


It's Not the Fall that Kills You

by rserenity



Category: Monster Girl Encyclopedia, Monster Girls | Monster Boys
Genre: F/M, Femdom, Monstergirl, Ushi-Oni - Freeform, wight - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:07:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 40,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rserenity/pseuds/rserenity
Summary: A hired assassin fails to take out his target, an Ushi-oni. Though he and his employer do their best to hide him, eventually she tracks him down. This encounter reveals there's much more to the assassin's employer than he ever knew.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	It's Not the Fall that Kills You

**Author's Note:**

> This story was imported from Pastebin. I've abandoned it, so don't expect an ending.

Five hours.

Drew could handle cold. He could handle heat. Bugs crawling up his legs, sweat making skin itch as it dripped to the ground, thick, suffocating humidity, stray animals screeching with a noise like someone taking a toothpick to his eardrum--all tolerable. But this damn wait, this he just did not have the patience for. His mind had dulled to near-uselessness. Minor twitches, errant echoes and waving shadows kept stealing his attention, yet he managed to stay motionless on his stomach. Dry leaves and twigs surrounded him, waiting to rustle or snap. He dared not move, lest he alert the prey he’d been waiting for.

Even with his immeasurable patience, time was not with him. Fading light sucked detail from the world and shadows stretched as if reaching for something. The wind blew in his favor for now, but who could say what it might do in an hour or two? Ushi-onis didn’t have the best noses in monsterkind, but they sure as hell beat humans’ and Drew knew he reeked of himself.

He'd known the mission was trouble the moment he heard 'ushi-oni'.

“What?” he’d asked. It wasn’t like him to show apprehension, but he’d never had an opponent like this before.

“A ushi-oni,” his handler had replied, not taking her eyes off her workbench. She’d become married to her guns, in a way. Sometimes that gave Drew comfort, knowing his equipment was created and maintained with care, but at the moment, he was leaning toward annoyance.

“Ushi-oni, yeah, I heard that. But the word before it I don’t quite understand.”

Her eyes found their way to his, finally tearing away from her toy. He may have let some of that annoyance slip into his tone, but he wasn’t about to back down from a stare. “Feral. You know some monstergirls go ferahl, ja?” The thick undertones of her native german accent snuck into her words despite her usual efforts to hide them. She always got that way when frustrated.

“I know what a feral monstergirl is, Liess. I’m asking how a USHI-ONI, specifically, goes feral. Aren’t they all?”

“You’re not focusink un ze right details. It’s bekome more of a problem fer us to leaf her alone zan to kill her. Hence, she dies.” She turned back to her bench, throwing her ponytail back over her shoulder, letting the long, dirty-blond bundle of hair lay neatly down the center of her back. It was about the only thing ‘neat’ about her. Drew wondered if she ever actually cleaned those grease stains off her face and hands, instead wearing them as black scars from hours of intent work every day. A worn peach long-sleeved shirt curled up at the elbows did what it could to cover her, but it wouldn’t be long before Liess’ habits wore it beyond usefulness. Much more rugged demin short-shorts cradled her rear and hips, pockets in every spot the tailor could manage, most with a tool or two sticking out of them. In the dull orange light pouring down from the bulb over their heads, the skin tone on those long legs looked human. If he hadn’t known, he might not even realize she was a wight, much less a monstergirl. Maybe she always met him in the workshop because that’s the image she wanted to give. If he had to guess, she a sort of revulsion toward the stereotypical wight, their fancy clothes, fake accents, and silky grey skin wooing men with an air of elegance. Liess unequivocally rejected all of that.

As for why, Drew could only guess.

“Your accent’s slipping again.”

“As ist your ahrogance.” She laid the german on thicker than a blanket.

“Whatever. Which number am I?”

“Four.”

He was never the first. That’s why they kept using him--after so many agents died trying to take out their target, no one else would be willing. It wasn't that he was more skilled, but that he was less concerned with his own life.

Four wasn’t as bad as he expected, but it sure as hell wasn’t a comforting number. Most the time he was two or three, and the danger seemed to increase exponentially. The most he’d ever been was five, and that was not an experience he soon wished to repeat.

“What do I have available this time?”

Liess gestured to a bench behind her loaded with gear. “Explosives or higher-caliber rounds und whatever can shoot them. Claymores and C4 if you wish, zough I would suggest the M95 Special.” The accent had disappeared almost entirely. She may have spat the earlier comment right back at him, but that didn’t change how she dealt with her accent in the end.

“Special?”

“I made it.”

Drew spat out something between a grumble and a laugh before making his way over to the bench. Quite a spread, regardless of his target. Her ‘Special’ grabbed his attention first, colored in a sleek, polished black which emanated a chill, even in the heat of Liess’ workshop. After checking the safety, he carefully picked it up and held it ready. Enormously heavy, just as he expected, but the weight felt right in his hands. That was probably Liess’ skill speaking.

“Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this seems like a bit much.”

“With ushi-onis, there is no ‘too much’.”

So here Drew laid, prone, silent, and ever-watching behind Liess’ ‘Special’. He considered the explosives for a while, but eventually dismissed them. Confirming the kill would be difficult and dangerous. Even taking down an entire building with a ushi-oni in it might not kill her if she wasn’t in the right place when the explosives went off, and confirming the kill would mean searching through the debris for a feral beast which might still be alive. No, Drew wasn’t even going to consider getting close until he could see his target was dead or incapacitated.

Drew struggled to remember the last time he’d seen a ushi-oni. Of all the monstergirls, they were one of the more scarce species, and of the ones that lived, only so many were fit to integrate into society. In all irony, the ushi-oni Drew’s memory came up with was a doctor. Thankfully, not attending him at the time, but he couldn’t possibly forget the sight of a monstrous, hairy, bull-spider walking through the hospital halls sporting a lab coat and a white eye-patch with a red cross on it. His first thought had been about how to kill her. It wasn’t that he had an urge to, but rather, he wanted to sort through the problem before it manifested. He shook his head. ‘IF’ it manifested. The ushi-onis who lived among humans were either born with a more reasonable lust than others of their kind, knew how to manage it, or simply suppressed it with a stronger seal. He’d never asked how people or monsters made those seals… perhaps it would be useful knowledge for the future.

At the moment, however, the issue was not how to suppress, but how to eliminate.

With an insanely-high regeneration rate, immense strength, and surprising speed, ushi-onis were contenders for the most difficult monsters to kill. Dragons also came to mind, their flight giving them a great advantage both in combat and escaping, plus explosions and other means of fire often did nothing. Bullets bounced off their hides, but the human parts were vulnerable enough. He heard they were oddly vulnerable to electric attacks as well, whether EMP, taser, or, if you were desperate, thunderbird.

Drew failed at suppressing the resulting grimace.

Just like dragons, ushi-onis had their weaknesses. Destroy the heart which pumped that cursed blood to their veins or deal massive damage to their brain. A hit with the gun he was using anywhere on the ushi’s chest would probably obliterate her heart, and any hit on the head would do the same to her brain. That didn’t mean Drew should slack on his aim, however. He readjusted his aim to make it more comfortable. It might still be a while before--

Movement.

Drew tensed up, his hand squeezing on the gun’s grip and his pupils dilating in surprise as his eye went to the sight. On the bare ridge of the hill before him, something emerged from the forest. Something large, green, and hairy. A ushi-oni. Carefully, he raised his other hand to help adjust the gun ever so slightly to the right, placing his target dead center. About five hundred meters away and blissfully unaware of her situation. Drew choked down a sigh. His relief could come later, when this monster was dead.

Holding his aim steady, he waited. Five hours had already burned away, another few seconds for a better shot was nothing. The ushi-oni was walking perpendicular to him, giving him only a shot at her head. Granted, a slug from Liess’ Special could probably go through her entire body with ease, but he couldn’t leave any room for error. Heart or head, and he much preferred the heart. Aiming for the head would leave less room for error--a glancing shot might only destroy some or most of her brain, but if he aimed dead-center on her chest, he’d have a chance at a decapitation along with obliterating her heart.

Not only did he want to land his shot straight on her chest, but he needed to see her front to confirm her identity. All ushis looked like the same hairy, over-sized bug to him, but his target had a distinctive pattern on her chest. While other ushi-onis might wear intricate designs and symbols drawn in hair, the one he hunted didn’t have something so elaborate. A slim, cresting wave, the back of the wave on her left breast and the tip on her right. Assuming ushis could, in fact, scar, he might see some marks from her encounters with the other agents who tried to take her out.

‘C’mon…’ Drew mouthed. Only so much path lay exposed for Drew to have a shot before the ushi would disappear back into the cover of the forest or, more likely, the cave he’d tracked her to. It’d taken five hours for her to show up; who knew when he might get another chance, or if she’d even come back. If he was number four, she had to realize someone wanted her dead very badly, and might never expose herself again like this. Drew’s head began to throb, his blood pumping so hard he could hear it echo in his ears. His aim drifted up to her head. Better to be prepared to take her out than hope for her to turn. His finger hovered over the trigger, and his thumb gingerly flipped the safety.

The ushi-oni paused, turning her face and shoulders in Drew’s direction. Did she see him? Smell him? No, her eyes weren’t so focused. Maybe she caught a hint of something, but whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to give him away completely. A slim smile creased his face and he lowered his aim down to her chest. While distorted, the view gave him what he needed to know. Hair painted upon her chest a pattern much like a wave, flowing from one breast to the other. With her head turning, he could see the tip of her far horn had been broken off as well. No doubt about it: this was his target.

She was stationary, half-turned towards him, and still unaware of her peril. This was his chance. 

All the little things--the sweat dripping down his face, the cicadas trilling, the aches in his arms and legs--they all disappeared in an instant. The world ceased but for the gun sight and Drew’s finger. A void swallowed him and his target, and his leer launched at the ushi like a thousand daggers. The distance between them evaporated. He laid feet from his target, the barrel resting upon her skin. Air slipped from his lungs in a long, silent whisper. His muscles held true. His finger pulled back.

She bent over.

A resounding crack and concussion filled the hills for miles, the gunpowder putting every ounce of its single brilliant flash into forcing that bullet down the long, twisted barrel. Wildlife scattered. Even with earplugs, Drew’s ears buzzed and faltered, unable to hear the curse under his breath even as the slug shot forth. Smoke, flash and force ripped from the end of the barrel, and a searing metal slug bore down on the ushi-oni. While her motion moved Drew off his ideal target, twelve millimeters of death travelling at that velocity still had plenty of destruction to dole out.

Drew couldn’t tell exactly where the bullet hit first, but he could definitely tell it hit. There was nothing left of her face and the bullet’s path led it straight through the right side of her chest. Well, what used to be the right side of it. Blood bloomed from her body, splattering across the air as if she was a painter lost in madness. Her right arm flopped to the ground next to her, nerves firing off tiny twitches in its fingers. The bullet continued through a leg and severed it clean off, causing the ushi to fall flat on her face.

“Shit!” No need for silence or caution now. His target, if still conscious, knew exactly what was going on, and still might have her heart intact. Her head remained attached to her body, her brain was still mostly there, and he’d gone and hit the wrong side of her chest. Scrambling, Drew yanked the bolt back, flinging the empty cartridge out, then slammed it forward. You could never rely on the second shot, but right now it was all he had. Unfortunately, the ushi-oni’s fall had begun her on a reckless tumble down the hillside. She vanished into cover of brush and tree, though her large body did plenty to disturb the foliage as she fell. Drew desperately followed the movement with the sniper rifle’s sight, hoping to get a view of her actual body, but the forest never thinned. If it turned out this ushi-oni was indeed still alive, he needed to either put in a second, finishing bullet in her or bail immediately.

His target was quickly tumbling out of the range in which Drew could rotate the rifle. Doing everything he could to calm his nerves, Drew slowly exhaled, drew the rifle snug against his shoulder again, and fired. A second boom rocked the landscape, though this time there was no more wildlife to scare off. In fact, the shot drew out something new. Something that froze Drew in place.

A howl.

“Fucking--“ Drew scrambled to his feet, tossing off all the dirt and filth he’d accumulated in his five-hour wait. He flipped the Special’s safety back on, grabbed it, and ran toward his car. It sat a comfortable mile away, and the ushi-oni was still falling down the hillside, but he had no choice. It was bad enough luck that the ushi bent over at the worst possible time then fell conveniently into cover to keep Drew from confirming a kill, but now he had wolves rushing toward the scene. If he was a betting man, he’d put money on those ‘wolves’ being the monstergirl type--this forest was infamous for its feral population. Even if they weren’t, Drew had no desire to deal with a pack of the real thing. Probably even less chance of surviving that way.

His arms and legs pumped as fast as they could with his gun in tow. If he returned without confirming the kill as well as losing the rifle Liess entrusted to him, she’d kill him herself. Rage, not adrenaline, fueled his ruthless sprint. Wolves! Fucking wolves! All he needed was two goddamn minutes to go down to the ushi-oni’s body and either confirm the kill or finish her off. No matter how aggressive her regeneration rate might be, two minutes wouldn’t be enough for her to recover completely from that first shot. Yet, if he really did spend those two minutes checking, he’d never be seen again. He hadn’t signed up for this. He had not fucking signed up for this! Why did the world always decide to shit on him so hard? Did he look like a toilet?

Through some errant stroke of luck, his sprint successfully carried him all the way back to his car without further trouble. The wolves may have never caught his trail, or the smell of gunpowder overwhelmed their noses, or they just weren’t fast enough. Drew didn’t care which, only that he was out in one piece. Also, the ushi-oni hadn’t chased him down, and that sparked a flash of hope. She’d had time to recover, and there was no way a few wolves would deter a ushi-oni. They didn’t seem like the type to run from a confrontation, either. But here he was, in his car, the only scratches on him from low branches. They didn’t tell the tale well enough, however. He’d gotten out by the skin of his teeth.

And something inside him nagged that he wasn’t out of the woods yet.

  
**

  
After dropping the car off at the company warehouse, Drew began his dreary voyage home. He’d have preferred to drive home, but the car was company property, along with the rather incriminating gun inside of it. His shoulder still ached from shooting it, but if he was to let something bug him, it sure as hell wouldn’t be aches. He kept himself guarded on the streets, his pace quickened but still wary. Sunlight was fading fast, and any human with half a brain wouldn’t be caught outside after dusk in this part of town. He could only wonder if the nicer neighborhoods were any safer.

Pale orange light retreated from creeping shadows on tall buildings. Drew kept an eye on the eroding sidewalk, avoiding the clumps of weeds and pitfalls, his sneakers hitting the old cement with a dull thud each time. Cars came and went, their patterns of slowing and accelerating pointing out the potholes and stop signs. Every now and then Drew would hear the scraping of a low-rider scuffing against the asphalt. Kinda asking for it, driving a souped-up cars on an old, battered road like this. And anyone living around here had no business dumping all that money into making their car look stupid. Stale, cooling air of the evening wisped into Drew’s lungs, so dirty he could almost taste the grease on it. Time was still running. He shoved his hands into his pockets and picked up the pace until he arrived at the subway station.

He was never alone, yet he always wished for it. Today it was a couple monstergirls, both lamia, talking amongst themselves at the near end of the station. Drew quietly walked down to the far end and waited. Waited not just for the train, but for the talking to die down--and that took no time at all. It rarely did. He felt two pair of eyes boring into him, scanning him from head to toe as brazen as the sun at noon. The voices started up again, this time more hushed. Drew’s feet separated a couple inches, giving him a broader stance. His right hand snuck into his jacket and checked the holstered beretta inside. Cold metal met his fingers. It wasn’t often he actually had to draw it, and even more rare he had to shoot, but he could never hesitate when the moment came that he needed it. Monstergirls almost always had the physical advantage--guns were about the only thing keeping a man safe anymore. You could head out with just a tazer if you were daring, but so many monstergirls just shrugged that shit off you couldn't count on it half the time.

Drew’s next breath came out heavy. He glanced over to the lamia, but it seemed these two weren’t prowling tonight. The subway came in with a dazzle of noise and lights, faces buzzing by in a blur at first, gradually slowing until Drew could make them out. Not many on today--most men had already gone home, and those who hadn’t were probably almost there. Drew was a bit further from home than he’d have liked, but maybe he could hang onto a little of that luck which’d gotten him out of his earlier situation with everything intact. The doors before him hissed open and he stepped inside.

Even with a slim number of riders in the sub car it felt cramped. A scylla and an oni dominated the front of the car, making their own little ruckus, and a man sat closest to the door Drew had walked in. They met eyes and Drew gave him a slight nod before walking to the rear of the car and taking a seat. The monstergirls yapped at each other as if in a bar, complete with the obnoxious tones of drunken women. Drew could’ve easily learned all about them and their lovely conversation, but he tossed every word out of mind the moment it barged in. He adjusted himself in his seat. The atmosphere didn’t sit right with him. It didn’t take an expert to see the potential here. Two men, two monstergirls, no simple means of escape. It was always a gamble, using public transportation like this. The city had started posted guards during peak times, but everyone knew that did shit. Tetra arms could sneak a hand into a guys’ pants--scylla and kraken, a tentacle--and start yanking him right there. Who noticed? Who cared enough to speak out? The guards existed to look good, to make the mayor seem like maybe, for a second, he wasn’t some monster’s slave.

As if listening in on Drew’s thoughts, the ruckus of voices in the car died down. He saw without looking their stares, heard without hearing their thoughts. Should they? Should they not? Drew had means to defend himself, but he'd much rather avoid a confrontation. Anything could happen when it came down to a fight. Over the years, he’d learned how to blend in, be the target monstergirls didn’t want to go after. Subtle things like posture, eye contact, facial expressions mattered more than anything. You had to know what the monster was looking for, too. Did she want a fight or was she looking for easy prey? Was she alone or with friends?

The moment the car stopped and the doors opened, Drew was gone. He didn’t want to give the monstergirls time to reconsider their passivity and the other man in the car wasn't far behind. Smart guy.

The darkening city welcomed Drew no more than anyone else as he emerged from the subway station and started toward home. The last, dying rays of sunlight still clung to the rooftops and the streetlights that still worked flickered on. He'd walk in the door as late as any sane man dared.

It wasn’t a human’s world any more.

**

Creaking steps followed Drew all the way up to the third floor. He never bothered complaining about it. Between the landlord’s laziness and the other tenants’ apathy, nothing would ever get done with them. Besides, there were few things worth his annoyance about this place, no need to get everyone in a tussle over some loose stairs. Drew’s steps subconsciously slowed as he approached his door. Coming to a stop, he took a deep breath, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

A swift kick passed an inch in front of his face. His instincts jerked his head back just in time for his assailant to wiz by. Having thrown her entire body into the attack and finding no resistance where she expected it, the thunderbird slammed into the opposite wall and crumpled to the floor. Drew closed the door behind himself a bit harder than necessary and walked by the dazed thunderbird as if she didn’t exist.

“You should never turn you back to your enemy!” she yelled.

Drew spun on his heel and stepped out of her path. The entire apartment shook with the force of her slamming into another wall. Drew flicked a light on and walked to the fridge. The scratching on the carpet in the hall told him the thunderbird wasn’t giving up. She popped around the corner and called at him.

“Luck will not save you again!”

She charged shoulder-first this time. Not even throwing her a glance, threw open the fridge. She bounced off like wet cardboard, ending up a pile of wooziness on the floor once again. Chilled water in hand, Drew grabbed a glass, filled it up, and took a nice, long chug, sighing at the end of it. It’d been a long day.

He finally looked at the stunned thunderbird, trying to decide whether to smile or grumble at the sight before him. He could practically see the stars dancing in her eyes, but the moment her head stopped its awkward swaying and her focus returned, she was right back at it.

“Prepare to taste lightning, fiend.”

Grumbling, Drew rolled his eyes as she wound up. Tiny arcs of lightning ran up and down her body, she pointed her wing at Drew, and her stare narrowed. Right when her grin grew large enough to show teeth, Drew threw the rest of his water on her.

Squawking in surprise, the thunderbird collapsed, jerking back and forth as the electricity she’d meant for Drew rebounded back into her body. A week ago, he might’ve felt bad at causing such a sad sight, but she’d quickly gone through all his pity. He rewarded himself with a small smile as he refilled his glass.

He’d already sat down at the table and leaned back into his chair by the time the thunderbird stopped spazing. As determined as she was, the thunderbird was still a scrawny, short thing, the top of her head coming just up to his mouth. Harpy types were almost always small like that--wings probably wouldn’t be enough if they were tall and bulky. When you can fly, you hardly need to be tall anyways. At the moment, she wore a t-shirt three sizes too big, obviously stolen from Drew’s closet. He’d learned to buy extras, as wings and talons often made short work of them. Her spikey hair went no further than her neck, probably held up by the intrinsic lightning all thunderbirds possessed. Puffing up her chest, she shouted out another challenge.

“It will take more than that to defeat--“

“Knock it off, Blitz. It’s been a long day.”

The fierceness on her face evaporated into wonder so fast Drew got whiplash just from watching it. She raced over to his side, laying her wings on his arm and asking, “What was it?! Did the forces of evil drive you back?”

“’The forces of evil’ had nothing to do with it.” He pushed her off his arm. You couldn’t be too careful with thunderbirds and direct contact. The water trick didn’t work if they were touching you.

“Then what was it? A mad scientist? Rich supervillain?” She latched right back onto his arm.

Every day this interrogation! His only salvation was the fact he didn’t have to carry out hits all that often, and god forbid she find out about that. “I thought you’d have gotten the hint by now, but apparently you haven’t, so let me make this explicit: I don’t talk about my job.”

Hopping up and down, she squeezed and shook his arm like some kind of toy. “C’mon! You never talk about anything!”

He threw her off, more fiercely this time. “Because there is nothing I want to talk about with you.”

She began to pace around the table with her wings out like a looming vulture. “But I want to talk. Especially when you leave me alone all day.”

Had it been only a week since they met? It had, hadn’t it? That short time ago Liess had approached him with this damn thunderbird at her side, smirking as if she’d just won the lottery. He’d rather forget the conversation altogether.

“I have a new partner for you,” Liess had said. That alone had told him enough. He’d never worked with a partner and he had no intention of doing so.

“I’m not so great with other people. Especially when they’re monstergirls.”

“You are alright with me, zho?” she said, jutting out her hip. That had to be a monstergirl thing, showing off your body whenever you got cocky--something Liess never did, and that only worked to concern Drew further.

“You’re an exception. I only have to see you once a day, twice if I’m unlucky.”

“You hurt me.” Sure didn’t sound that way. “Here, girl, introduce yourself.” Liess gestured for the thunderbird to come forward.

Marching up to Drew, the thunderbird snapped a wing to her forehead, her posture stiff as a statue. “Pleased to meet you! I’m your new roommate.”

Roommate? Drew narrowed his eyes, pointing at the still-saluting thunderbird. “Did she roommate? Because I heard roommate.” His voice deepened. “I better not have heard roommate.”

“You heard roommate.”

Now he knew why Liess had that smirk on. Revenge. This was sweet revenge for every piece of equipment he’d brought back damaged, every mission he’d reported back from late, every snide comment he’d made about her handiwork. Oh yes, Liess was that petty.

“This isn’t funny.”

“Zhen vhy do I feel like laughing?”

He leered at the thunderbird. She still hadn’t moved. Maybe there was still some way out of this.

“You know whenever I rib on you, it’s sarcasm, right? I actually think you’re pretty good.” It was true. He just did it to keep her ego in check, though right now he needed damage control more than a humble handler.

“Oh-ho-ho?” Even trying to cover her mouth, her smile peeked out from behind her hand. “So fery kint of you to say, but I do not sink flattery vill help you now. Zee decishon haz already been made.” That FUCKING german. He could tell she was pleased as peaches. Actually, no. She made the peaches look like emo kids.

“I am prepared to be the best, most valiant roommate possible!” shouted the thunderbird.

Drew shot her a glare. Valiant? He didn’t want a valiant roommate, he wanted one that didn’t exist. His ire shot back to Liess. “This has your greasy fingerprints all over it.”

“Are zey really zo greasy?” She danced her fingers out in front of her. “I am not zo sure.”

Drew opened his mouth to shout, but she silenced him with a finger. “Zho I woult love to take kredit for thees, it was out of mine hands, as skillful as zey are.” She shrugged. “Zee order kame from above.”

Above? He raised an eyebrow at the thunderbird. What the hell could she have done to end up in this situation? And why would the company care enough to cover for her like this?

Liess was still grinning at him with more glee than any one person or monster had any right feeling. What this thunderbird did or did not knew mattered little now. He knew a lost fight when he saw one. Arguing any further would only serve to fuel Liess’ schadenfreude.

“What’s your name?” he asked the thunderbird.

She perked up as if to answer, but stopped and looked away just as suddenly.

“She has none, as far as you are koncerned.” Rubbing her chin, Liess cocked her head at the thunderbird. “Vy don’t you kall her Blitz?”

Her rolled his eyes. Just like her, too. He turned on his heel and started walking away, not bothering to turn around when he shouted, “C’mon, Blitz, we’re going.”

It took a moment, but the thunderbird clambered after him as soon as the realization hit. She hovered just behind him, channeling enough electricity to make the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

“Hey, Kamikaze!” hollered Liess.

Drew turned around just in time to catch a couple keys with a slip of paper attached to them. An address.

“New place. You’re gonna need those.”

Had he know then what he knew now, he would've shoved Blitz down Liess’ goddamn throat before accepting this arrangement. The worst part was whatever supplication she wanted to get out of Drew, she’d gotten. He could feel the scraping claws of her manipulation against his skin, yet he’d still pacified himself around her. Not completely--he’d never let her have that much. But it was enough that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d jabbed at her with a snide comment.

“I can see your mind working! Your enemies must be clever and powerful!”

Drew glared down at Blitz, the thunderbird still hanging off his arm with a too-tight grip and staring up at him with such energy laser beams might have come out of her eyes. God, he could only imagine Blitz with laser-eyes. She’d probably incinerate everything he owned before even figuring out how to control them.

“My enemies?”

“The forces of evil!”

He tossed her off once more, jabbing a finger at her face. “I just told you, the ‘forces of evil’ don’t have a thing to do with me. Knock off the justice routine. And,” he added, flicking her in the forehead, “don’t use lightning in here. If you miss, you break something or start a fire, and I don’t want to deal with that.”

She rebounded from the flick, hopping back and holding her wings close to her chest. “Show me some cool moves, then! If I can’t use lightning to fight, I’ll have to know some of the stuff like you do.”

“Yeah, like I’m giving you more ammunition to attack me with. Learn yourself.” He started to get up, then paused. “On second thought, don’t.”

But Blitz was already beyond the conversation, throwing out wings and talons in random motions which one might misconstrue as ‘kicks’ and ‘punches’. Though without fists, she could hardly punch. What would you call those? Wing-jabs? Drew shook his head. It didn’t matter what they were called, as long as she wasn’t hitting him with them. She might end up trying something later, but with moves like that, he could hold her off with both eyes closed and a hand tied behind his back.

After a dinner devoid of peace and quiet, Drew walked into his room and locked the door behind him. Fortunately, Blitz had at least some respect for his bedroom door, giving him a place to relax and think. He collapsed onto his bed, staring at the ceiling with deep breaths and wandering thoughts. He’d thrown his element of surprise away in a horrifically spectacular fashion, managing to fail securing a kill against a ushi-oni, of all monsters. Thankfully, she hadn’t picked up his trail right away, and without the sharp senses of other monstergirls, he would have some time before she found him. But, knowing someone was after her, she would come looking, no doubt about it. Drew dragged his hands down his face. If she made a ruckus, the police would get involved and make this a hundred times more complicated. If he’d just finished her off outside the city…!

Slapping his cheeks, Drew sat up. Today had been a disaster, but dwelling on it wouldn’t make anything better. He needed a plan. He closed his eyes and went over his options. Liess’ Special would still get the job done, but if the ushi-oni had already taken to the city, landing a shot would get that much more complicated, assuming he wanted to avoid collateral damage. He might want to pick up some explosives now, just in case. Nothing would be better than if he were able to lure the ushi-oni somewhere secluded, though the explosives still had the disadvantages for which he’d passed over them earlier. He could ask Liess to have her people keep an eye out, but he’d learned not to depend on her resources for anything more than equipment and basic intel. No one in their right mind would want to get tangled up with a ushi-oni anyways, especially one who’d already taken out three agents.

Standing up, Drew pulled out his cell phone and opened up his contacts. Not enough to even swipe the screen down, though that had never bothered him. He had what he needed. He checked the time. Nine P.M. Hopefully this contact wouldn’t mind a later call. Drew hit the name and waited for the pick up.

“Hello?” The man’s voice always seemed deeper on the phone than in person.

“Hey, Mitch. It’s Drew.”

“Ahh, Drew. It hasn’t been very long since we last talked! Busy man?”

Drew did his best to keep his frown from crossing into the call. “Busier than I should be. I’m going to need some information.”

“Then you know how this will need to go. I’ve got some time tomorrow--“ His voice faded out a bit. “No, hun, it’s a client--yes, I know.” Chills crept up Drew’s legs like tendrils. He knew who the man on the other end of the line was talking to. He’d met her once, in a way, and hoped never to repeat that again. Just knowing she was somewhere in the house Drew was calling made him feel slimy. “Sorry about that, Drew. As I said, I do have time tomorrow, though it’ll be a bit later in the day. Eight alright?”

Eight. He’d have to be out after dark, but he wasn’t interested in leaving this job open any longer than he needed to. “Yes. I’ll be there.”

“Good.”

Drew hung up, running his lips back and forth across each other. He shouldn’t be so perturbed over a single target. This wasn't the first time things hadn't gone exactly to plan, but he'd always come through in the end.

He put his phone down and fell back onto the bed. His muscles burned and his head throbbed with each beat of his distressed heart. This job never stopped asking Drew for more and somehow he always found more to give. He stared at the water stains on the ceiling and the fan shaking back and forth by the force of its motion. His clothes stuck to his body and stank of sweat, but all he did was lay there and close his eyes. Tomorrow. He’d deal with all this shit tomorrow.

  
**

  
And tomorrow was not happy with him for it.

After dodging attempted assault from his half-asleep roommate, Drew made his way down to Liess’ place, the chilly, quiet subway ride only aggravating his annoyance with himself. He typically tried not to appear in a hurry--another way to catch the wrong monstergirl’s attention--but his brisk walk and tempest gaze hid nothing. Just outside Liess’ garage, he came to a halt, loosening up his body and shaking out the tension in his muscles. He didn’t need to share his frustration with Liess--that would only backfire. Besides, he was going in there to ask for help, and what worked best on Liess was humility.

The garage door groaned, rattled, and creaked as he opened it, announcing his arrival to anyone inside. Oil and humidity invaded his nostrils and thick air hit him like a wall. The fans blasted out more of the sticky air, though their noise could easily be drowned out by any of the monster machines Liess kept in here. She had a modest-sized place, and while it certainly seemed like she lived here with all the time she spent in the workshop, it didn’t have all the facilities a home would. She’d never let Drew know where she lived, anyways. He didn’t know if she had a family, a mate, or even if she had hobbies outside of tinkering.

He checked his pistol under his coat, swiping a finger down the grip before stepping inside.

“Liess?” His voice echoed just enough to ring in his ears.

“Over here.”

He followed her voice, finding her looming over a half-dismantled car engine. While it may have looked like a nightmare of work to him, Liess probably got wet over the thought of it. Or maybe she saved those kinds of feelings for firearms.

“It’s earlier than usual. What brings you here today?” She tossed her hair back, collecting the waterfall of tanned blonde and wrapping it up in a ponytail holder while looking at Drew. “Finished with the job?”

‘I wish,’ he thought, but said, “I’m going to need those explosives. And some place to plant them.”

“Falling back on the flashy method? My special not good enough for you?”

It was just a question damn wight, not a knock on your weapon. But she knew that. “Just tell me where they are.”

She pointed toward the back of the workshop. “Closet in the back. I don’t need to tell you to be careful.”

“Yet you did anyways.”

Liess certainly had a collection, enough to take out an entire city block if set up properly. Hopefully, that sort of firepower wouldn’t be necessary, but with ushi-onis, ‘there is no too much’. Drew grabbed a bag and carefully loaded up, taking what he figured he’d need and just a little extra. Things rarely went as planned. As soon as he was packed up, he lugged the bag out to the car and stashed it right alongside the Special. He shook his head when he saw it; Liess had already inspected it and cleaned it out. Did the woman ever sleep?

Wiping the sweat from his brow, he re-entered the workshop and found Liess again.

“Know of anywhere I can set all that stuff off without pissing off anyone important?” He had a couple places in mind, but the more options, the better.

“Ja.” She answered without turning from her work. Letting her ponytail fall over a shoulder, she reached into her back pocket, nudging those criminally short shorts of hers down a bit. Did she always wear the same pair or did she just have a dozen of them? “There’s an old Ford factory few miles south.”

“I thought a lot of people liked that place. Like a historic site or something.”

“A lot of people do like it. But no one important.” Sitting back, she stared at the motor with the intensity of working something through in her head. “There’s an empty lot near 23rd, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to take on a ushi-oni in an open spot like that. Off 40th, a little ways east of here, there’s a parking garage no one has gotten around to demolishing. That might actually be your best bet, assuming you definitely want to stick with explosives.”

Drew wiped the sweat off his forehead again. The heat in this place was relentless. “Do you know anything about the other agents that went after this target? Were you their handler, too?”

“Not much. I was aware of their movements and the handlers they were assigned to, but as far as their experiences with the target, I cannot give you much. I can, however, request that information.”

Drew crossed his arms. “Not handler to any of them? I thought this was your area.”

“It is, and for that reason I was aware of their movements, but I am not given much along the personnel.” She put her tools down a moment to turn to Drew. “Mostly because of the situation that brought you to us. Higher ups feel the attention given to you should be more… precise.”

Right. His parents. Always seemed to be finding out something new about them. ‘I’d appreciate you putting out the request, then.” More likely than not she’d come back with nothing Mitch hadn’t already gotten him, but the information couldn’t hurt. Besides, Liess rarely offered help so freely. Maybe she had her own concerns about this job. Drew lowered his head and tapped his foot in thought.

“Keepin’ a close eye on me, then?”

Her breathing evened out and she sat down properly, keeping her back straight. “You know I do not discuss the details of my duties with you.”

“Okay then, why don’t you tell me what you think?”

“About what?”

“Me. My situation. How much do you even know?” Drew couldn’t pinpoint what spurred the question, but for some reason he really wanted to know.

“I think that you are exactly what we need and you have performed quite well, though I would hardly expect less from your upbringing.”

If you took out the calculation in her words and the chill on her breath, one could almost take that as a compliment.

“However, you are still concerned with far too little of the world around you. Context is important. Your hyper focus will lead you head-first into unpredictable situations and make you stumble where other agents excel. Also, despite your background, you’ve grown up without any real sense of ambition.” Prying grey eyes reflected the pale light of the workshop so clearly Drew could almost make out the light bulb in her irises. “Unless you have managed to hide it from me.” 

Not surprising she’d saved up much more criticism for him than praise. Actually, he wouldn’t’ve expected any praise at all. Did her tongue ache after forcing it out? “Oh, I’ve got plenty of ambition.” He tapped his fingers with each statement. “Don’t get raped. Don’t die. Don’t end up someone’s slave. Don’t live under anyone’s thumb.”

Liess raised an eyebrow. “I have some bad news about that last one.”

Drew shrugged. “It’s a work in progress.”

She turned back to her work, but not before a smirk flashed on her face. “You’d better start on it, then.”

“Guess so. See you later.” He walked toward the door, but paused halfway there. “So, exactly how well am I performing?”

Liess’s replying wrench buzzed by Drew’s ear, his dodge just enough to keep him safe. From the bang the wrench made on hitting the wall, he could tell she hadn’t been holding back, either. A brilliant grin creased his face as he walked out.

  
**

  
This time, when Drew entered his apartment, no kick launched at his face, no lightning sizzled through the air bent on ruining his day. Complete silence greeted him instead, and that was worth a smile. Wet footsteps sloshed across the dark brown carpet, followed shortly by sparse drips of rain. Yes, rain. He’d seen it coming while he was scoping out the places Liess mentioned, but apparently hadn’t planned well enough. He still wanted to wait until after his chat with Mitch before laying the explosives out, so the explosives ended up doing nothing but sit in the trunk. There’d still be time before the ushi-oni became a serious issue, and Drew wasn’t in the habit of rushing things.

Something he picked up from his mom. Probably.

Drew grabbed a towel and threw it in his face, closing his eyes and letting the fibers drag slowly downward. She’d always told him he was like his father, yet he had nothing to base that on. Was he meticulous because of his father? Or had all the training his mother put him through developed that? If his father had lived, would Drew have ever been subjected to this life? What kind of man would he have grown up to be? The towel dropped to his side, leaving Drew face to face with himself. Brown hair, held down by the rain, came just short of his eyes. Two scars, too small to see unless you were looking for them, marred his forehead just above his right eye and a short line from the edge of his nose toward his left eye. That one had almost taken a lot more than just a little skin. Drew watched his pupils dilate from the bright light above the mirror. “Your eyes match your hair,” his mother would always point out, then pat him on the head. How fucked up was that--the doting succubus who patted his head also trained him to kill?

And how much of his ability came from his father instead of his training?

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Drew turned away from the mirror, hung the towel back up, and trudged out to the kitchen. Why Liess of all people? Why ask HER? He collapsed into a chair, leaned back, and watched the rain hit the small kitchen window. Miserable as the rain was, it helped keep a lot of monstergirls from bothering with prowling. Plenty didn’t care, and the slimes would be that much more dangerous in the rain, but lamia and other cold-blooded monstergirls hated getting cold and wet. Dragons tried to avoid it, too. If it kept up into the evening, his trip to and from Mitch’s place might not be so bad.

Two powerful knocks rattled the door. Drew rolled his eyes. It was probably Blitz coming back from wandering off to wherever she went. Leave it to her to try to kick the door over with her knocks. Drew didn’t know what sort of instructions Liess had given the thunderbird, but he hardly cared, either. Something told him he should probably urge Blitz not to go out on her own so often, but her circumstances were her own, and were he in her position, he’d have asked anyone on his case to back off. Drew dragged himself out of his chair and opened the door, about to chastise Blitz for knocking so loud.

Except Blitz had her own key.

His guest stood a foot taller than Drew on six hairy legs ending in sharp tips. A seductive, green-skinned human half grinned at him with a grin too large to be simple joy. Only pure, unbridled ecstasy fueled by runaway elation could spread lips that far. Madness danced in eyes stained by dark sclera. Claws twitched and curled in anticipation. One of her horns ended short, and across her chest, a wave.

And all Drew could do was stare like a man caught in a firefight with an empty gun.

Instinct kept the ushi-oni from ending the fight before it started. Drew threw the door closed, intercepting the sharp claws before they could grasp his neck. The wood splintered and flew, each claw making it clear through the door but no further. A kick sent the door in and the ushi-oni followed.

Drew’s beretta was ready.

Three shots rang out. Three bullets ripped through the ushi’s head, leaving in a bloody splatter, staining the walls and carpet a sullen red. She slumped to the ground on her abdomen. Drew kept his gun trained on her. That shouldn't have killed her. The holes filled up, blood stopped flowing from wounds, and life returned to the ushi-oni’s body. Drew grimaced as he put three more rounds in her head, but those began to heal as well.

The ushi-oni’s legs lifted her body back up. Six rounds to the head only bought him seconds! If the brain wasn’t an option, he’d have to go for the heart. As that wild elation returned to her eyes, he adjusted his aim and fired. He pulled the trigger in short, regular intervals, shifting his aim so the bullets would destroy as much of her chest as possible. Yet when the gun clicked empty, the ushi was still standing. Their eyes met, and her grin grew. He paled.

An arm darted out and smacked the gun away, but Drew had no used of it any more. A swipe came for his shoulder, but he dodged back. Claws whistled as they cut through the air intent on opening Drew's chest. Drew saw sweat fly off his face as he barely got out of the way. He didn’t have room to keep backing up. He couldn’t get around the ushi-oni to the door. She charged at him, trying to crush him against wall, but he leapt to the side just in time. Scrambling to his feet, he ran down a narrow hall to his bedroom and slammed the door shut. The ushi’s size would slow her, but Drew wouldn’t trust a concrete wall to stop a ushi, much less some drywall. He had no windows and he was on the third floor, so escape wasn’t an option until he could get past the ushi.

The thunder of drywall giving way to frenzy shook the apartment. Fuck! How could she possibly have found him? Had he missed something, something that got the other agents killed? His eyes ransacked the room for a weapon. He swallowed down saliva but still breathed fear. The closet. That's where he kept his supplies. He ran there, threw it open, and his eyes immediately latched onto a black bag. Liess didn't allow him to keep much, but surely something could help him here. His hands closed around smooth metal and he flashed a smile just as the bedroom door exploded inward. Drew spun around and brandished his weapon: a cattle prod. He'd much prefer a gun, but the only one he had was empty and out of reach. He hit the trigger on the prod and the end lit up. Electricity worked wonders on many monstergirls, but a ushi-oni? He guessed he'd be finding out.

The ushi’s mouth opened with a wicked laugh at the sight. Fuck that stupid laugh. Drew faked forward, trying to gauge the ushi’s reaction, but there wasn’t one. She didn’t care about the cattle prod at all, but that still didn't tell Drew if his would be effective or not. A normal cattle prod might not stop a ushi-oni, but his was weapons-grade. He faked forward again, but again got nothing from the ushi-oni. She was daring him--and he took that dare. He jabbed for her side, but she squirmed out of reach with shocking speed. Claws soared for Drew’s face, but he’d kept his eyes on them, giving him just enough time to react. Drew struck with the prod as if it were a rapier, going for a new body part each time. Shoulder, neck, stomach, leg, arm. Every time, the ushi ducked away and went for a counterattack.

After Drew’s last attack, she finally connected. He howled in pain, retreating over his bed with one hand on his ribs. Three clean lines dripped crimson. Squeezing the wound, he opened his mouth in a silent scream. Pain washed over him, but he pushed it away. His grip on the prod tightened so hard his fingers went numb. The metal, hot from his own body heat, bit into his palm. This ushi was making a fool of him. A man trained for years to kill her kind was being twisted into nothing but a toy. And that fucking smile! She never stopped with that smile! Eye-fucking him ever since the doorway like a glutton scarfing down a meal before it was ready. Screw the hit, he’d kill the ushi just for her cockiness.

He switched the prod to his other hand, meeting the ushi-oni’s mad grin with a glare. Trying to win like this was insane. He needed to get out of the apartment and try to outrun her. A shit alternative, but better than slowly getting bled to death here.

The ushi-oni jumped onto the bed, giving Drew no more time to contemplate his doom. Her razor-sharp legs shred the mattress with each step, and her additional height blocked out the light on the ceiling. A storm swallowing the sun. With a sickening cackle, she pounced. This was his chance. He aimed for the gap under her raised arm, like dodging under a falling door. She read his movements and brought a claw down. While unable to get a grip, it was quick enough to dig into his leg and leave a nice gash. Fresh waves of pain struck him, but Drew had no time for it. He’d made it past the ushi. Not missing a step, he darted out the door.

The hallway was gone.

Drew’s eyes went wide. The ushi-oni had obliterated the wall along the hall leading to his bedroom, leaving a waist-high pile of rubble where the hall and wall once were. The moment he reoriented himself to his new surroundings, however, his legs burst into action. It was just a pile a rubble. An easy climb then an open shot to the door. He hit the pile running, using his momentum to get over it, but escape was not to be so easy. His injured leg gave out, sending Drew face-first into the rubble.

It was over. Before he even hit the ground, he knew it was over. This entire fight had been danced along a razor’s edge, and he’d just fallen off. Dust shot into the air in a cloud around Drew, drying out his mouth like it’d never known moisture. Even knowing his fate, he pushed himself to his feet and tried to blink the dust out. With every ounce of defiance in his body, he pushed his legs forward.

The claws around them didn’t allow it.

The ushi yanked Drew’s legs out from underneath him, sending him right back into the rubble. The impact knocked the air from his lungs, sending his head spinning and his vision dancing. Twisting in her grip, Drew slashed back at the ushi with his cattle prod and was surprised to find it hit something. When his vision came into focus, he saw the ushi-oni grasping the end with a closed hand, grinning with teeth clenched. Her eyes only grew wilder with tens of thousands of volts tearing through her body. Crushing the end of the prod, she tossed the scrap metal away and seized Drew by neck. She stood up straight and lifted Drew’s struggling body with a single arm. He rained blows down upon her arm, trying to find a weak point, something that would give, but what he got was more of that damn smile.

Kicks connected with her stomach, her chest, her legs, over and over. Hardly a twitch in response. Fed up with Drew’s resistance, the ushi began to squeeze. Drew’s lungs were robbed of precious air. He clutched at the hand, trying to wrench it open, but her grip was steel. Slowly, so slowly, the fingers grew tighter, now threatening to crush his windpipe and demolish his vertebrae. Drew went berserk on her arm. Pulling, kicking, punching, clawing, anything to free him. His face started turned blue with the lack of oxygen, and his blows grew weak. This was the futility of fighting monstergirls. The moment the gun failed to kill her this battle was over, Drew just hadn’t know it yet. As much as he struggled, the end result didn’t surprise him in the slightest. His vision went black.

A resounding smash against Drew’s back shook his body with pain. Light forced its way back in when Drew’s eyes flew open. The ushi had slackened her grip on his neck and thrown him onto the floor. Drew tried to get up, coughing wildly, but the ushi-oni was already over him. Arms wrapped around him and pulled him into a twisted, perverted hug, crushing their bodies together. Her pediapalps shredded his clothing and tossed it away before hooking around his waist and smashing it into her female heat. Still coughing, Drew squirmed in revulsion and tried to create some sort of distance. It did nothing.

He gasped when the ushi threw him back against the floor again, her hands pinning his shoulders down and keeping him secure. He got one look at that ravenous grin before she began thrusting. And did she thrust. Her thrusting wasn’t like anything he’d experienced or even seen before--it was brutish, wild, and strong enough to shake the entire apartment, but at the same time, absolutely focused. With Drew’s manhood limp, it did nothing useful, just a raw mashing of privates together, but with each motion he could feel the entirety of her body, her being, devoted to the most carnal of desires.

The first thrust stole his breath from him once more. On the second, he heard a crack. He didn’t know if that was him or the floor. The third reverberated fiery spikes through his pelvis and legs, like they’d fallen asleep a hundred times over. Another crack. And another. Juices thick with the ushi-oni’s scent flowed from her nethers and over Drew’s privates. The smell invaded his nose, violating him just like the ushi was. His crotch went numb, like it wasn’t attached to his body any more. Her pediapalps dug into his lower back, wanting more, more, more. With the force of her entire body, the ushi pounded on him again and again. Her claws dug into his shoulders. Drew waited for something to give.

It was the floor.

A mighty thrust broke through the wood, sending the ushi-oni and Drew crashing down to the apartment below them. A scream other than Drew’s rang through his ears and someone ran out. Drew looked at the ushi’s face; she didn’t even glance away. Nothing mattered but the sad little man beneath her. Drool dripped from her mouth. Drew tried to spit back at her, but her thrusts came with such speed and intensity trying to do anything but accept them sent his head spinning. It felt like he was trying to keep his balance and someone kept shoving him. Warmth spread from his crotch, the first feeling he’d gotten from it since it went numb. And it wasn’t just the ushi-oni’s heat he felt.

“No. Nooo,” he groaned, pushing away with what strength he had left. Somehow, he was getting hard. Screw flowing blood to his injuries, to his muscles that strained to get him free. Screw keeping himself conscious and his legs from going numb. No, his body wanted to fuck. He didn’t dare meet eyes with the ushi--he could only imagine how this development thrilled her.

She kept her pediapalps tight around his waist as her hands shifted from pinning him to lifting, slipping under his arms to pick him up like a baby. Every little thing she did stripped away what dignity Drew might hope to claim, from the aches of his defeat to the mindless fucking in a stranger’s apartment. She even controlled his arousal. This is how he was going to die. She’d wail on him until his body failed to respond and beyond. Another naked man to add to the count, and all he could do about it was rage within the prison of his frail body.

His back exploded in pain once more. She’d thrown him up against the back wall of the apartment, close enough to the window that he could still hear the rain fall. He took a single swing at her face, but the punch was something more akin to a slap. Sliding her hands up to his elbows, she dug her claws into the wall and took away the tiny token of resistance he had. Her pediapalps began wriggling around, shifting his waist back and forth, in awkward motions. Drew couldn’t figure out what she was doing until sopping wet lips swallowed his member. He gasped at the shock of pleasure rushing through his body, dulling all his pains and aches to trivial background noise. He gasped again when she thrust into him, her pussy squeezing with dizzying strength. Drew shouted in frustration at his own pleasure, but that was all the defiance he could offer.

All-encompassing heat, wetness, and pressure consumed him and spit him back out over and over. His back slammed into the wall hard enough for his entire body to feel the force reverberate through his bones. Dust fell from the hole in the ceiling he’d been fucked through. The ushi-oni just kept grinning.

She climbed up in the wall with her two front legs to get a better angle. It wasn’t enough. The brutal thrusting, strong enough to shatter bones and decimate floors was not enough. What the hell was going through her head? How did a monster like this--no, a species like this--even come into being? A monster who lived to fuck with the ferocity to kill her mate, uncontrollable but for the seal they wore over their eye. This one, of course, wasn’t wearing hers. Well, if god was going to screw with him by making something as twisted as a ushi-oni, he’d screw with god right back. Maybe Drew was to die, but he wasn’t going to give neither god nor this bitch the pleasure of his surrender. He screamed in her face and kicked. One leg responded with resounding pain… broken.

His resistance only fueled her fervor. Her pediapalps tightened and she drew back. Drew swallowed. She came forward hard enough to crack the wall and this time, when she let up to thrust again, the pain didn’t go away. Something else had broken. He opened his mouth to scream even louder, but choked when he found himself muted. She was kissing him. The thing was KISSING him. He tried to recoil only to hit his head on the wall. Her tongue invaded his mouth, molesting his tongue and lapping up his saliva. When he gagged, she only drove her tongue deeper. As disgusting as that was, what really made him want to puke was the fact part of him was enjoying this. Not just the relentless thrusting and tight nether lips sucking on his length, but the wild kiss as well. He had to stop himself from shoving his face against hers and licking her tongue with his own. Madness. He’d seen his death and gone absolutely mad from it.

When she thrust him into the wall again, he lost complete feeling in his legs. That was fine, though. Her body did all the work anyways. He gnashed his teeth together and squinted his eyes shut, trying to shut out the sweet ecstasy of her sex. It was all for naught. With a kiss that rammed his head into the wall, she forced him to surrender to pleasure. Lightning like fire exploded from his crotch, lighting up every wound, every broken bone with rapturous pain. He spewed himself into her, desperate to empty all he could, to feed that wonderful, vile, primal kiss upon his member.

The ushi relinquished his mouth back to him, the both of them panting. Each breath drew more agony inside, but he couldn’t help himself. He no longer wanted to. He had nothing left to give--it had to end.

But the ushi wanted more. Always more. A twisted cackle escaped her lips through heavy breaths and her body pounded Drew into the wall with more power than ever before. This time his head hit the wall too hard and everything went black.

  
**

  
‘There were worse ways to die,’ Drew told himself, swimming through blackness. ‘Could’ve been infected by a Matango. Could’ve been tortured and drained by a manticore over the course of a week. Could’ve lost my mind to a dark matter. Death by ushi-oni isn’t so bad, especially when you’re knocked out before she really gets into it.’ The thought gave him pause. ‘Wait, do they still rape unconscious bodies? Dead bodies? Do they even care about getting off, or is it just the act itself they enjoy? She was going pretty hard on me before I’d even gotten it up.’

Drew looked down and was surprised to find himself still with a body. Odd. Did spirits have bodies or was he just imagining it? He’d have to find an anubis and ask her sometime. Oh, wait. He was dead. Unless there were anubi in the underworld, he was SOL. Hmm. They knew a lot about the afterlife--did that mean they visited? Drew tapped his chin. Why was he so curious all of a sudden? While he was alive, he’d always been of the opinion death was just endless nothing. Yet he still had his consciousness, his sense of self. None of this was adding up.

And then he knew pain.

“Fuck!” 

Well, that’s what he tried to say. What came out instead was closed to ‘fluc’, which very much confused the nurse standing next to him.

“Calm down, dear. You’ve been in bed for a little while now and you shouldn’t be making any sudden movements.”

A succubus. Fan-fucking-tastic. Why couldn’t he have gotten a human nurse? Was the position of nurse going to be perverted into another monstergirl thing? He need medical attention, not sex. In fact, an overabundance of the latter was what landed him here in the first place.

“Yeuh flucing calm down.” What a stupid slur.

“Please, sir.” She reached over him, shoving her dumb breasts in his face. Yeah, that wasn’t on purpose at all. Good luck getting’ Mr. Happy up when I’m like this, bitch. “Stay still, try to keep your breathing nice and even, and I’ll get your doctor.”

“Gugh.” As annoying as the slur was, Drew would much rather talk silly than feel the full brunt of the pain. Even through his grogginess, fiery pangs shocked him all throughout his body, the worst lighting up whenever he tried to breathe. He probably had more broken ribs than intact ones.

The door clicked shut, leaving Drew alone with himself. The best kind of company. Fighting to keep his eyes open, he looked around the room. A boring hospital room, one that smelled like stale sheets and crappy meals. The covers were too heavy, and Drew’s legs were a hundred times hotter than his chest. His arms ached to move, but he knew better than that. He was fortunate enough to have a window off to his left, but the blinds were closed up. He could hear rain on the other side of it. He melted a bit more into the bed, frowning at the ceiling. He hated this kind of vulnerability, but who had put him here but for himself?

Drew turned to the door when it opened. The nurse was back, holding the door for someone else. Drew thought he missed the new arrival until he saw the succubus looking down and followed her gaze. His doctor was a shrimp. Ram-like horns curled toward the back of her head and inwards towards themselves. She had the soft face of a child, though the expression was anything but. Sharp eyes grazed across a chart she held, glancing up only to make sure she didn’t run into something. The white coat of a doctor sat oddly well on her shoulders. As smart as she may have looked, Drew wasn’t interested in a monstergirl doctor, especially a baphomet. Could never tell how old they really were and they had some of the nastiest magic you could come up with. She finally looked up from her chart and took a seat aside Drew’s bed, putting her at eye-level.

“Aren’t yeuh a lil’ short fer a daucter?”

“Joking about my size. You must be the first to make that jab. You should give yourself a pat on the back.” She shook her head. “Later, though. You seem to be somewhat broken at the moment.”

“Fluc yeuh.”

“Fix your tongue, too. Hmmm, wait, never mind. I’m the doctor, that’s my job.” She reached over and held Drew’s jaw shut. “There we go. Now just hold that there for the rest of your life and your tongue will never give you trouble again.”

Even against those child-like muscles, Drew stood no chance. So he blew a raspberry at the air instead.

“How mature.” The doctor removed her hand and leaned back in the chair. “Now I bet you’re wondering exactly how you’re doin--“

“DREW!”

Everyone turned back to the door, finding an ecstatic thunderbird gaping at Drew. She started forward, but the nurse held her back before she’d hardly entered the room.

“No visitors, dear. Drew is very tired and needs some time--“

“Drew! You’re okay! I knew it! I knew the forces of evil couldn’t stop you!”

Too dumbstruck to say anything or even make a face at Blitz, Drew just stared. Why was she even here? What did this have to do with her? She should be trying to scavenge what she could out of their former place and looking for a new one. Their apartment was destroyed--she had other things to worry about.

Blitz struggled to get to him, but the succubus was stronger. Slowly, she pushed Blitz back out the door. As she was forced from the room, the thunderbird stared right into Drew’s eyes like she was expecting something. Only when the door shut her out did he come back to the present.

“That one’s been pestering about you the entire time you’ve been here,” said the doctor.

Drew looked up to the ceiling. “Pestering. Yeah, cee’s gooah at that.” He swallowed and worked his tongue around his mouth. Damn, that slur was annoying.

The doctor watched him a moment, considering saying something more, but kept it to herself. “As I was saying before, I’m here to update you on your situation. I’m Dr. Beveilston, and I was the one overseeing your treatment. You came to us in a rather sad state.”

“You don’t need to tell me that.”

“You were brought two days ago by a wight.” Drew glanced at Beveilston, but said nothing. If anyone were to bring him in, it would have to be her, wouldn’t it? “Had you arrived any later, you probably would’ve died. You had numerous broken bones, internal bleeding, open wounds, contusions, and a concussion which had probably come about when you were knocked out. Your case was so severe we ended up resorting to magic, hence how you ended up with me as your doctor. Traditional methods would never have been able to save you.”

For once in his life, magic had helped him. Weighed against all the times it’d been a trouble, though, it was still mostly shit. “So, how long will I be stuck here?”

“Not too long, actually. Because most of your broken bones were forcibly healed with magic, you won’t have to wait for things to heal naturally. However, the trial which brought you to us and the procedure which kept you alive both put enormous stress on your body. You’ll need another few days of rest before you can go, and even then, you’ll be feeling sore for another week.” She looked down to his crotch. “Some areas more than others.”

Fantastic. Maybe not as bad as he feared, but the stench of this room was already getting to him, and knowing that succubus would be tending to him made it worse. “Fine. I’ll deal with it.”

Beveilston hopped off her chair. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

“Oh yes, I feel incredibly lucky right now.”

She shook her head and headed for the door. “Don’t try to get out early. You won’t like what I do to gung-ho patients.”

Fucking monstergirls. But it wasn’t her he feared. Liess was no doubt watching him, and if he tried leaving while still injured, she’d give him something worse and put him right back where he started. She hated bullheadedness just as much as Drew lived by it.

“Hey,” he said, catching the doctor right before she left.

“Yes?”

“Can you…” He pauses, running his teeth back and forth along each other. “Can you let that thunderbird in?”

“Are you sure?”

“No.” His fingers dug into the sheets. “But do it anyways.”

“Alright.”

Drew hated being surprised. So he’d just have to surprise her back.

**

“I said no touching!”

“Oh! Sorry!” Blitz’ wings jerked away from Drew’s poor arm. While he wasn’t moving and didn’t have to breathe too deeply, the pain was actually bearable. But the moment he needed to bend, reach, scratch or anything, a million spikes would shoot through him to his very core. The ushi-oni had done her job well.

Blitz fidgeted in her chair, eyes darting around the room. Liess must’ve filled her in on the basics of the situation, as she hadn’t asked the obvious the moment the nurse let her in. That didn’t mean there weren’t plenty of other questions to bug him with, though.

“So what was the fight like?” Blitz put up her wings up like they were fists. “I bet you put some nasty scars on her!”

“You can’t ‘scar’ a ushi-oni, Blitz,” Drew deadpanned. “They regenerate whatever you do to them. And I didn’t do anything to her. It was a one-sided fight. It would take some supernatural ability just to keep a ushi-oni at bay.”

Unfazed, Blitz jabbed at the air. “She must’ve gotten off a lucky shot!”

“Why do you even care? Stuff like this happens all the time to guys, just usually not with ushi-onis.”

“But not to you! You’re the super-strong secret agent!”

Secret agent? Is that how she saw him? Drew almost laughed. “You watch too much TV.”

“Oh, c’mon! You work for a mystery corporation fighting evil in the depths of society. Criminals shiver in your presence, but no one knows your name.”

She got further and further away from the truth with each sentence, but there was no real harm in letting her keep her little delusion. Liess probably had a hand in crafting it, too. “Sure.”

“Who was she, anyways? A scorned lover? A ven--“

Drew spewed intermixed coughs and hacks of pain. Laughter lit up his body with agony. “A sc--“ Another fit of coughs broke him off. “A scorned lover? Is that even possible for ushi-onis? Damn, kid, you need to tone down that imagination of yours. Seriously.”

Her cheeks puffed out. “I am not a kid! I turn eighteen in just a few weeks!”

“Oh, boy. Eighteen! What a font of age and experience you’ll be.”

The screaming sarcasm blew by Blitz as if she was deaf. “Exactly!”

“Just keep your expectations in check.” Drew rubbed his arm. That laughter had lit up all sorts of aches which refused to settle down. If Blitz kept this up, he’d be right back to square one of recovery. He glanced over to his feathered guest, currently nibbling at her wings. Harpies usually didn’t preen, they cleaned with more human methods, but the harpies less inclined to care about hygiene or how people saw them would sometimes do it in public. The edge of his mouth twitched. At least she wasn’t really going at it.

“You say the company is mysterious, but you somehow landed in with them. How exactly is that?” he asked.

“Hmm?” She immediately dropped what she was doing and stared at the far wall. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t try playing ignorant, you’re horrible at it. And it’s pointless with someone who knows as much as I do about the company. So out with it.”

“I, uh, I’m not totally sure on that myself…” Her voice trailed off.

“You can’t be THAT clueless.”

She played with her wings in her lap. “I think I made someone mad. The wrong kind of someone.”

Drew hummed an acknowledgement. Pissing off the right people could easily put you in the wrong place… but he didn’t take the company as the kind of organization to protect silly thunderbirds out of the kindness of its cold steel heart. She was probably leaving something out, yet there was probably much about her own situation she didn’t comprehend.

Drew blew into stale hospital air above him. Nothing for him to concern himself with as long as she wasn’t going to put him in any more danger with her presence. Knowing the company, she’d been well hidden, and keeping a low profile should ensure things stayed that way. As he looked back at the fidgeting Blitz, his eyes narrowed. For this one, a low profile might actually be a problem. Was that why they put her with him? Protection? He’d have to grill Liess about that later. Even if he got nowhere with it, at least it could help dull these persistent questions running through his head.

“What are you going to do next?” she asked.

“Next, I’m going to heal. Then I’m going to do my job.”

“Ah! The cruel ushi-oni is going to feel the cold hand of justice!” Blitz jabbed at the air.

“Don’t… don’t call it justice. It’s just the way the world works. My world, at least.”

“So the cold hand of vengeance! She’ll regret raping you, cursing her foolishness with her dying breath!”

“This isn’t a damn movie, Blitz. And I don’t kill monstergirls just for raping me. Otherwise, there’d be several more monstergirls underground.”

Blitz’s arms went limp at her sides. “S-several? You mean, this has happened to you that much?”

Drew rolled his eyes. “I just told you, stuff like this happens all the time to guys. I’m no exception.”

“But, you’re, well… fine.”

“Fine?” Drew could go into many different arguments about how his current status couldn’t be defined as ‘fine’, but most of it would be lost on Blitz. “You get used to it. You have to, or you either become some monstergirl’s plaything, or end up a broken mess with a fine chance of ending up dead in an alleyway somewhere.”

Pouting, Blitz stared at the floor. “You shouldn’t *have* to get used to it.”

Sucking in a breathful of the stagnany air between them, Drew turned away from Blitz. Almost eighteen, she said, but a kid through-and-through. Not even Drew was ever that ignorant, though as a monstergirl, she never had the troubles of a human male. Blame it on her upbringing, not her own stupidity. 

While that last subject seemed to quiet her down, Drew wasn’t a fan of the thickness that now hung in the room. He kept fidgeting, lighting up jolts of pain all over his body. He ran a tongue over dry lips and stared at the door.

He was taken aback when it opened.

Liess walked in… and not covered in grease. In fact, her clothing was actually somewhat presentable. Nothing fancy, of course--she would probably rather dote over Drew than get caught wearing a gaudy dress--but not torn up or revealing, either. A white undershirt covered her chest where her baggy, blue button-up shirt did not. The fact only a couple buttons were done could’ve been from laziness or to keep the thing from suffocating her. Slim, tight jeans hugged her slender legs well, rusting against each other as her practiced stride brought her up to Drew’s bedside. The one piece Drew was not surprised to see her wearing was that wry smirk.

“Vy zittle agent haz gone und hurt ‘imzelf.”

“Aww, bringing out the german just for me?”

That dampened it. A little.

“I should not be so surprised you were reckless enough to allow this to happen.”

“This isn’t--“ started Blitz.

Two dagger-filled stares silenced her instantly. Drew was rather certain Liess’ were sharper.

“Blitz,” said Liess.

Blitz tried to stare back, but her eyes couldn’t quite stay on her for more than a second at a time. She sat there, waiting for something more.

“She’s asking you to leave, Blitz,” said Drew.

Blitz’s face scrunched up into a frown, but she left nonetheless, letting the door close as loud as it could on her way out.

“Are you two getting along as well as I’d hoped?” The way she could inject sarcasm without even changing her tone made Drew’s stomach churn.

“Better.”

“Good.” She took a seat, crossing one leg over the other and resting her hands atop her knee. “I’m here for a briefing.”

Drew shrugged. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I know anything that could shed light on this. But after I left your place with the explosives, I scoped out the locations you suggested. Didn’t set anything up, just took a look. Afterwards, I headed back to my apartment, dried off from the rain, and sat down to relax. That’s when I heard the knock.”

Liess’ eyes sharpened. She knew what came next.

“If I had known it was that ushi, I’d have jumped straight out the window. But I just figured it was Blitz and answered the door. We got into it the moment we saw each other, and the fight went about as well as you’d expect. If you were the one to pick me up, then I imagine you saw the shape the place was in.” Drew shook his head. “I have no idea how she found me so quickly, and she didn’t give that information away. She was too busy plowing me like an ox.”

“I believe I have the answer to that question.”

Drew perked up with interest and suspicion. “Don’t tell me YOU had something to do--“

“Do not sink I am zuch a fool to let harm befall mine agents,” she snapped. “I was inquiring about the ushi-oni with my contacts as you asked me to when I heard an interesting thing. They didn’t know if it was our ushi-oni, but one had shown up in the city recently, carrying around another monstergirl like some pet--or prisoner.” She leaned in. “A wolfgirl.”

Drew paled. “One of the wolfgirls who’d been after me in the forest.” A ushi-oni finding him in a city on her own so quickly was out of the question. With a wolfgirl, his scent, and the scent of his car, however…

Liess grimaced. “I did not know about ze wolfgirls, but after hearing that bit of information, I had a feeling things would turn zour quickly. I rushed over to your apartment to find her raping your unconscious body. I chased her away by blowing off a couple limbs, but nothing fatal. In order to get you to the hospital in time, I had to let her go.” She leaned back in her chair. “Besides, I am not the type to do her subordinate’s work for him.”

“So she’s still out there.” He hadn’t expected anything different, though it would’ve been nice to see Liess in action.

“Yes, she is, and that’s a problem.”

“No need to rub it in, Liess.” He gestured to himself. “As you can see, I’m already reaping the consequences of my mistakes.”

“Yes, but I haven’t had a hand in any of those consequences, leaving me somewhat unfulfilled with the current situation. A superior needs to chastise her subordinates, lest they become wistful and arrogant.” She stood up and walked to the foot of the bed, arms crossed as she stared out the window. “Missing your first shot was a stroke of bad luck. She leaned over at the wrong time and you missed. You should have been quicker to react to her movements, or acquired your target faster. These things can be learned and fixed through practice. Do you know what I find fault with most, however?”

Drew straightened out his back. It would be a bad idea to disregard a lecture from Liess. “That I lost to the ushi-oni when she found me. I should’ve been able to end the job right there.”

“Hmph.” She gave Drew’ leg a slap, sending fresh shocks of pain up his body. He winced, but kept quiet. “You would have to be quite something to defeat a ushi-oni in that situation. There are very few people who could, and even those would require a fair bit of luck.” She sat down on the bed, slipping her hand up to his knee. “No, I wouldn’t expect anyone to win that fight. What I WOULD expect is that you prevent that situation in the first place! How many times did you tell yourself ‘there’s no way she’d find me yet?’ Why did you not have a reserve plan should that first attempt fail? You took no action to cover your tracks, your scent, or even lay low in an alternate location for a while. You know the company has the resources for that and much more. Also, you never told me about the wolves in your debriefing. You were too frustrated with yourself at missing the ushi-oni that you left out an important detail.” She scooted toward his face and leaned in. “I just told you this extreme focus of yours was your weakness, yet you’ve made no effort since to work on it. Mistakes happen, and in our field, you’re very lucky to live through one. But how you follow it up is what turns it into either fortune or disaster. Do you understand?”

Drew’s eyes burned, but he couldn’t bring himself to blink before the sweltering glare bearing down on them. “Yes, I understand.”

“Good. I will expect more from you in the future. I hope you do not disappoint.”

A weight lifted from Drew’s chest as Liess stood up off the bed and glided over to the window with eerily quiet steps. He’d gotten through her lecture intact, but that last statement had left a knot in his stomach. When Liess said she expected more, she didn’t say it lightly. In a way, Drew felt a touched honored by her willingness to place those expectations upon him, but at the same time, if she saw no results, his ass would be on the grill. He lightly rubbed the spot on his leg Liess had slapped. Wight strength was nothing to shake a stick at, but thankfully, it seemed this time she’d held back. Drew smiled to himself. This might have been the first time she’d ever shown him pity.

“I know I mentioned Blitz before, but this time I’m more serious about asking: how are things with the two of you?”

“Ask it like that, you make it sound like we’re together.”

“No jokes this time.”

Her sharp, lowering tone strung Drew up tighter than a drum and sapped the humor from the air in an instant. “We’re fine, I guess. She’s a monstergirl, so, there’s that, but you could’ve handed me worse.”

“I happen to be a monstergirl as well, if you have forgotten.”

Drew rotated his lower jaw. Liess had a tendency to interpret things the worst way possible when she knew the truth was the opposite. “You’re different. You don’t run around trying to show off ninja skills you don’t have or yap on and on about justice.”

He couldn’t see it, but he heard her smirk. “She is perhaps younger than her age.”

“Why did we take her in, anyways? Seems harmless to me. She related to someone important?”

“In a way, though not by blood.”

“How much can you tell me about her?”

Liess glanced back at him. “About as much as you expect, I imagine. The best way to put it is that she’s a political guest.”

“Guest as in prisoner? Or guest as in actual guest?”

“Somewhere in between.” Drew’s annoyance got the better of him and he let out a huff. “She can leave if she wants, but it would be to her own disadvantage. Not even she entirely understands what she’s landed herself into.”

"Makes sense." He looked out the window with Liess. She’d confirmed most of what he’d heard from Blitz: she was just someone who pissed of the wrong person and was now in over her head. As long as Blitz had no real bite, Drew could tolerate her for a little while. Hopefully she could make herself useful and help scavenge out the ruins of the apartment. Liess probably had people on it, but Drew’d rather they didn’t get their hands on his stuff and confiscate what they felt like. The ushi-oni had hardly destroyed everything, and Drew wasn’t interested in starting from scratch.

“Where am I going to be living once I’m out of here, anyways?”

“You and Blitz both will be living temporarily with me.”

“What??”

Smirking, she turned around. “So surprised your handler would be willing to house you for a while?”

“Yes! You’ve never given me any hint as to where you might live or even what you do when you’re not in the workshop or finding me a job, yet now you’re suddenly fine with that?”

“Yes, I am. My house is expendable, should I feel the need to move after this little ordeal, and I hardly believe there’s anything dangerous you or Blitz could do with knowledge of where I live.”

Drew narrowed his eyes. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted by that or not.”

Liess smiled. “It will help me out to be able to keep an eye on you with everything that’s happened, and I cannot deny some curiosity to how Blitz is doing. Or, more precisely, my subordinate’s ability to deal with her.”

“I’m not your entertainment, lady.”

“Oh? It ist odd you zay that, as you’ve been quite untertaining lately.” Her gaze sharpened. “And do not call me a lady.”

Drew knew where the line was. “Fine. It’s your crazy idea. I’m not going to throw a fuss over living with you. It’s just… unexpected.”

“Perhaps.” She headed for the door, gliding across the room with unconsciously smooth, sensual movement. “Or perhaps you just do not know me yet.”

The door closed softly behind her, leaving Drew with a spinning head and a throbbing body.

“Fucking Liess.”

  
**

  
Five days and a car drive later, Drew found himself halfway between shocked and curious staring at the house before him. It stood well on its own, outside of any neighborhood, with nothing but plains and forest on either side. A long driveway lead up to a modest building, dark stone walls alternating with large panes of glass as walls and windows. The roof was short and tiled a worn charcoal. From the height of the place, there was no way it had a second floor. Unless Liess had a monster of a basement carved out for this place, there was no way she’d be housing a family here AND be willing to take on Drew and Blitz. Drew shook his head. So she was single. He’d always suspected.

“This it?”

“I do not know if I like that tone,” she replied. 

“I don’t mean anything by it.” God help him if he honestly criticize something she took pride in. “I just mean I expected something a little more.” Maybe not a mansion, but more than this.

“It is what it is. Which also happens to be your home for a short while, so you’ll have to get used to it. I find it perfectly livable.”

Drew grumbled to himself as he hefted his bags. Liess could get defensive on the strangest things. Not only that, he couldn’t always tell if she was actually defensive, or just fucking with him.

“I think it’s great,” blurted Blitz, hovering behind Drew.

He was expecting something more from her, but her eyes kept darting back to Liess. Something had transpired between the two of them while Drew was still recovering to put the fear of God--of Liess--in her, and now she hardly spoke more than a few sentences around the wight. Drew wasn’t complaining, though he couldn’t shake the habit anticipating more from Blitz.

“Get your bags and stop hovering,” he said, then headed toward the house, falling behind Liess.

The deadbolt clunked and the door swung open without a creak or yawn. Unconsciously, Drew nodded a few times as he looked around the place. Polished wood floors, carpet cozy on the feet, subdued but expressive colors, spacious but still furnished to feel lived in. He winced when he heard the sound of talons on hardwood, but looking back found the floor undamaged. Liess must’ve had it proofed against certain monster parts. Fortification like that might’ve come in handy against a certain six-legged rapist last week.

Liess leaned gently up against a wall, crossing one leg over the other before pointing down a hallway. “Down that way is my bedroom. Neither of you are to enter it under any circumstance.” She paused.

“Yes, ma’am,” Drew and Blitz both chanted.

Her finger directed them in the opposite direction. “There are the stairs to the basement. You’ll find two rooms and a bathroom down there. I don’t care which one of you uses which, but I expect to find both clean and undamaged when you leave.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m in the mood for a nap at the moment, so I’ll be asleep in my room. Make yourselves at home.”

She glided down the forbidden hallway and closed the door behind her with a click, leaving two wary guests, bags in hand, standing in the middle of her living room. While she may have said, ‘Make yourselves at home,’ Drew had the feeling it meant more of ‘Don’t touch anything.’ He and Blitz exchanged a glance then headed down to the basement.

It was just as well-furnished as the first floor, giving no hint it was an actual basement other than the utility closet they passed by. Without Liess to show them around, it took a moment to find their bedrooms. They were near each other, about the same size and layout, and a shared bathroom in between. Drew frowned. Sharing one bathroom back at the apartment was bad enough, but a bathroom with entrances from both bedrooms left more room for trouble from certain monstergirls. He shut the door behind himself and tossed his bags on the floor next to his bed before collapsing atop it.

He couldn’t make up his mind about Liess’ decision to house him and Blitz here. She may have appeared a more brutish wight, but that didn’t make her any less calculating and intelligent. Did the company want something more out of him? Out of Blitz? Was Liess grooming him for something? Or was this really just an attempt to get Drew back on his feet, sharp as he had been before the ushi-oni’s little visit? Being around Liess every moment he wasn’t out working would certainly put him on edge.

His cell buzzed in his pocket. Furrowing his brow, Drew dug it out. Not many people knew his number. He squinted at the phone and his frown disappeared. Mitch. He’d missed his meeting with Mitch, hadn’t he? The information broker probably already knew why, though. That was his job.

“Hey,” said Drew.

“Hey, yourself, bud.” Mitch always tried to give interactions with his customers a ‘personal touch’. Drew didn't care, he had simply toned out all the ‘bud’s and ‘pal’s. “Heard about what happened. Sounds like a real kick in the ass.”

“Yeah. Or the pelvis.”

Mitch’s high-pitched chuckle rattled through the phone. “Any chance that was related to what you were going to talk to me about?”

Prying. It was in his nature as an information trader, but he did good work for Drew, so he didn’t mind. “Yes.”

“Still need to chat?”

“Can’t think of a reason not to.”

“Good, good. How does tomorrow afternoon sound? One pm?”

“Fine with me.”

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

Click. That was it. Calls with Mitch were always delightfully short and productive. Now Drew had something to look forward to, he thought as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket.

Two gentle knocks came at the door. He was popular today.

“Hey, Drew?”

Blitz’s voice didn’t have her usual vitality. Maybe she was tired. Drew rolled over on his bed, remaining silent and stared at the wall for what felt like minutes, counting his breaths and tracing the detail in the wall. Not in the mood for her today. Not in the mood for anything, really.

“Okay, then.” He felt her presence disappear from the other side of the door. He could almost see her walking away with a hanging head.

Nap. A nap sounded great. Sleep came easy, taking him only moments after he closed his eyes.

He didn’t know it yet, but he’d need it.

**

Drew stared at Liess' outstretched hand and the folder within it. After sending an inquisitive glance her way, he snatched it from her hand and started looking through the contents.

“There’s a very not-dead ushi still out there,” he said.

“I am aware,” Liess replied.

He hadn’t the gall to push her any further, so he left it at that. This wasn’t the first time she’d given him another hit while he was still working on one, but those targets had never posed as much threat as a ushi-oni. This time, his second target was a lamia. Thumbing through the pictures, he couldn’t find anything immediately intimidating about her. Short, slim build, dressed up most of the time, a real businesswoman, this lamia wasn’t giving off half the vibe he usually felt from targets.

“Which number am I this time?”

“Just two. The last agent we sent after her didn’t die to her, but her bodyguard at the time. They took each other out. Rather convenient for you.”

Drew skimmed over a few more pages. “Looks like she’s got a pretty rigid schedule. Shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

Liess immediately narrowed her eyes.

“I know, I know. I ain’t gonna take this one lightly, especially when I’ve got a ushi-oni that could jump me at any time.”

Crossing her arms, Liess leaned in toward Drew. “I am giving you thees von zo you can recuperate. Regain your focuz. If it iz not carried out vith the utmost efficiency, you can expect a rather unpleasant debriefing.”

“Got it.” Drew was stiff as a board, stopping just short of saluting.

“Now go. I don’t want you coming back until you’ve made significant progress.”

She ushered him out the door like some kind of stray animal who’d wandered into her home, yet the door closed behind him with such grace he hardly heard it click. Still a wight, as much as she might try to hide it.

Drew spent most of the afternoon driving around the city, scoping out the locations the lamia was know to show up at. Before moving on to each location, he would sit in his car a while, reading and re-reading everything Liess had given him on the lamia.

Her name was Rasnasa, both an activist and lawyer for monster rights. She was apparently good enough at her job to get noticed by the wrong people, but Drew couldn’t guess why his Company in particular finally decided to pull the trigger. It read stereotypical political hit through-and-through.

Liess must’ve thought he could relieve stress with this hit, but in following that thinking she betrayed the gaps in her knowledge about Drew. He didn’t do this to release stress. In fact, even a hit like this was somewhat stressful. He was no friend of monsters, true, but he wasn’t his mother, either. That flavor of hate didn't fit his palette.

He checked his watch. Twelve-thirty. Time to head over to Mitch’s place, finally get some concrete information on this ushi-oni. Given the number of agents she’d gone through and the way she found Drew so fast, well, it didn’t quite line up with how mindlessly she acted as she raped him, even being caught so wildly off-guard by Liess as to lose a couple limbs. There was some reason why the Company wanted her dead, some reason they were keeping from Drew, and Mitch was the only one who would tell him.

A waving Mitch was waiting for Drew as he pulled up to Mitch’s house. Drew approached and greeted his informant with a firm handshake.

“Mitch,” he said, smiling.

“Heya Drew!” Mitch slapped him on the back and gestured toward the house. “How was the hospital?”

“Harsh.”

Mitch cringed, almost authentically. Even with all the practice in the world, though, he still betrayed the lack of depth to his reactions. His wife's skill, however…

“Well, hopefully I’ve got something that can cheer you up. Take a seat.”

Drew’s eyes scanned the area as he took a seat on the couch, concerned with keeping a look out for only one thing. Mitch sat in a recliner opposite him and picked up a folder, grinning as he held it up. Funny how so many people and monsters got reduced to manilla folders in this business, Drew thought.

“Now, just to be sure, payment’s coming from the usual place, right?” asked Mitch.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Drew, beckoning for the folder. “Same as always.”

“Great.” Mitch handed him the folder.

Drew couldn’t help but show a touch of eagerness as he opened it. It wasn’t as thick as he anticipated, but Mitch hadn’t failed him yet and Drew didn’t expect him to come up short here, either. The first few pages were about how she came to the Company’s attention, then how she’d overcome the past few agents sent after her.

Apparently she’d taken a liking to a particular warehouse in the outskirts of the city, raiding it for food and other necessities before retreating back to her home in the wilderness. She’d been declared feral a while back, but only after repeated incursions were reported did she gain the company’s attention. Odd, thought Drew. He would’ve expected a rape gone too far on the wrong person to land her on the Company’s list. Yet all she was doing was stealing to survive.

The first agent had died setting a trap for her at the warehouse. Evidence suggested the ushi-oni had lived through the claymore trap, overpowered the agent when he came up close to finish the job, and raped him to death. Apparently cold cement doesn’t give way like wooden boards, so the agent’s body had to instead. Drew’s upper lip curled at the images; he'd had almost shared the agent's fate.

Even while he contemplated his own possible future, another part of Drew couldn’t help but feel smug at his initial decision to avoid explosives. The agent had been half-sloppy, half-unlucky. Sloppy that his trap wasn’t completely certain to kill the ushi-oni, unlucky that the ushi regenerated her body and coherency quick enough to stop him from cleaning up. Drew lightly touched his neck, remembering the cold grip of her claws.

The second agent had been a touch more elaborate. He’d tracked her down to her cave in the wilderness, set up a trap of a hundred darts filled with enough paralytic poison to stop a wurm, and waited. The pictures of the scene shows an even further destroyed body than the first and a successfully triggered trap, but all the darts had missed. The report surmised the ushi-oni had somehow sensed something was off, triggered the trap from a safe spot, then caught the agent off-guard when he came to take her head. Drew sneered to himself. Twice now an unpredictable combination of poor luck and lack of caution had killed the agents. If the second agent had monitored the trap more closely, not assumed anything that set it off would mean the ushi-oni had been paralyzed, he would’ve seen the trouble he was in, left, and tried again later. With each attempt, the ushi-oni was growing wiser, more cautious.

Another gruesome picture told the third agent’s tale. His broken body laid against a massive dent in the ruined wall of a metal shed. This man was much more direct, but wasn’t stupid about it, either. He lured the ushi-oni to a wide-open field rigged with mines then barricaded himself in a small metal shed filled to the brim with weapons. From a distance, he took shots at her with a fifty cal not entirely unlike what Drew had tried. When she got closer, he switched to an RPG, then when she was close enough to touch the shed, he pulled out a flamethrower. Seems he did a fair bit of damage, based on the scars on the earth around the shed, and the fact he gave her that chipped horn, but even all that wasn’t enough. Using her claws, she’d ripped open the side of the shed, grabbed the agent, and proceeded just like she had with the two before him.

“How the fuck do mines, sniper fire, an RPG, and fire fail to stop a ushi-oni? I know they’re crazy like that, but this guy had some serious firepower. Surely one of those explosions would destroy the heart or the head?”

Mitch shook his head. “From what I hear, he got close a couple times, but I think he was expecting the ushi-oni to simply charge in. If you take a closer look, you’ll see that’s not quite what she did.”

Drew thumbed through the pictures again. There were a few anomalies, and the first to catch his eye was the pattern of mines that went off.

“She triggered a lot of mines in a line, as expected, but it looks like a few of the exploded mines were off on their own.”

“Yup, and I think the some of those weren’t even her, just collateral from a missed RPG shot. My guess is the first caught her by surprise, but after that she retreated until she found a blind spot. Take a look at the shed.”

Scrying eyes went over the pictures of the shed again. Very basic construction, made to keep shrapnel from hitting the agent and a last-ditch barrier to keep the ushi-oni away. On two of the still-standing walls, Drew could see a slit through which the man shot. Wide enough for the RPG but no more.

“Those slits don’t go all the way across,” said Drew.

“The shed was too hastily constructed. There are blind spots on the corners where the agent couldn’t quite aim his sniper rifle. So the ushi-oni took her time, secured a path through the minefield by blowing them up one at a time from a distance, probably with large clumps of earth or rocks. By the time the agent realized the depth of his situation, she was already past the mines."

“He probably only had time for one or two RPG rounds before she was in flamethrower range. If one of them missed then the second must not have hit her in the right place,” said Drew.

“Ushi-oni know how to protect their vitals. Even if the second shot had hit, she would’ve had no problem sacrificing an arm or a leg to block the brunt of the blast.”

“Flamethrower probably hurt like a bitch, but it wouldn’t be the weapon to finish her off. If her seal was off, she would’ve had the lust to ignore it long enough to get her claws on him.”

The third agent probably had the best idea of the three. He had eyes on the ushi-oni the entire time, and in an open field she had no retreat options once that first mine went off. A few fifty-cal rounds would keep her from running, and even if he was a poor shot, he could keep shooting until he hit her where it counted. Drew’s expression darkened, thinking to the rabid eyes on the ushi when she arrived on his doorstep. This ushi-oni wasn't one to run away. And to pick out the weakness in the agent’s setup so quickly, she showed her vicarious lust was hardly mindless.

The cacophony of Drew's emotion flooded out his thoughts. Now he was starting to understand why Liess had been so miffed at him letting this ushi find him.

Flipping over the last page of the failure report, Drew found there was nothing more in the folder. His face contorted as he looked up to Mitch. “That’s it?”

Mitch raised his hands in apology. “Sorry, bud. There’s nothing more about her. No name, parents, photos, history, nothin’. She’s probably been feral her entire life, just that no one noticed until she started causing real trouble.”

Drew slapped a hand to his forehead. “This is basically just mission reports I could’ve gotten from my boss.”

“Hey now, Drew, I wouldn’t have sold you that if there wasn’t at least something in there. I’ll bet some of those photos not even your boss could get you. And the reports there aren’t heavily censored, as I’m sure your company would’ve done for you.”

Drew sighed. That had always irked him. The company he was supposed to be working for, risking his life for, ultimately didn’t seem to care too much about its agents. Liess never gave him mission reports about the failed agents before him unless he begged or had some good reason for it, and even then the report was only half there. Guess their secrets were more important than his life.

Thankfully, they didn’t check his expenses close enough to see that all this money was going toward getting him information the Company wasn’t so thrilled about parting with.

“All this tells me is what won’t work.” He looked up to Mitch. “You know anything about how to kill a ushi?”

“Afraid not. Nothing consistent, at least. I would probably try the same thing you did, if I was in your shoes. Pick ‘em off from afar.”

Drew winced, his trigger finger twitching as he thought back to that moment. If only he’d hit her, if only she hadn’t leaned over, if only those damn wolfgirls hadn’t shown up. Shaking his head, he returned to the present. Regret and what-if’s wouldn’t help him.

“Do you know anyone who would know how to kill a ushi-oni?”

Mitch scratched his chin in thought. “I know a lot of people who have the capacity to, but no one who has. I suppose if you want to know a ushi-oni’s weakness, there’s no better person to ask than--”

“--a ushi-oni herself.”

Ice shot up Drew’s spine and froze him into place. He knew that voice, it wasn’t one you forgot. It wormed its way into your brain and settled there like thick scum, invading your thoughts, eliciting a gut reaction of equal parts fear and disgust. Drew made like a statue, hoping if he didn’t move, she wouldn’t notice him.

Her short stature and simple appearance only served to catch people off-guard. A lazy raccoon tail rested on the ground behind her, but Drew knew it had the tendency to twitch when she got excited. Like most tanuki, unless you were their husband, you didn’t want to see them excited. It meant in some way, you were getting screwed.

“Ah, dear, I didn’t know you’d be joining us,” said Mitch, a far more genuine smile than he ever gave Drew spreading across his face. “Drew, you remember my lovely wife Fillain, right?” Drew glanced at him, but didn’t so much as nod. “Did you need something?”

Fillian. The true leader of this information operation, with a thousand webs of informants awaiting the slightest whisper. Anyone who knew anything somehow interacted with her, whether they knew it or not. One could argue she was the true owner of the city, though not without fair competition from the Company.

And this wasn't the first time Drew had met her.

“I couldn’t help but overhear some of your conversation and I knew where it was leading.” Drew’s ears twitched at the sound of bare feet on hardwood growing slowly louder. At the end of the couch she paused, twirled her body around a finger and slipped onto the couch with barely a sound. Right next to Drew. “But you don’t know any ushi-onis, do you dear?” she said, her voice a whisper that could be heard a mile away.

“Heh, I’m afraid you’ve got me there.”

Of course she's the only one with the information Drew needed. Of course.

“It’s alright. But if Drew here needs some help, I’d be glad to offer my services.” She turned to Drew. “He’s such a loyal customer.”

The corners of Drew’s mouth dragged themselves upward into a chiseled smile while he forced down saliva that had become a particularly foul bile.

“Well, if you want to, go right ahead. I’m sure he has no objections.”

Drew’s and Fillian’s eyes met.

“No, of course not,” said Drew.

“Mitch, hun, can you do me a favor and fetch my chapstick? My lips feel awful dry.”

“Sure thing.”

And Drew was alone. With her. Scooting closer, she let her arm brush up against Drew’s and her hand settle on his leg. Her bushy tail laid softly behind his neck. His body burned and his skin tingled at her touch, recoiling as if she were made of acid. Thick perfume invaded his nostrils and Drew recoiled purely on instinct. He fought to both look at her and keep his head straight, unsure which would elicit the worse reaction. Probably whichever he didn’t chose.

“Drew, I hardly see you around any more. You used to meet with my husband here all the time.” Her voice polluted the air with its filth, churning his stomach as he breathed it in.

“I’m more comfortable in the city,” he said.

“Is that so?” She tapped her fingers on his leg. “What a pity. I do enjoy your company.”

“Is it my company or that feeling of superiority you enjoy?”

“Come now, Drew, I don’t need you to know how much better I am. Though…” Her hand wandered up his thigh. “I can’t say I mind the reminder.”

Drew swallowed hard. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to say hi. Catch up, you know.”

“Bullshit." He cringed at his own inability to hold back. There was a time and place for defiance. "You never do anything without a reason.”

“You can’t honestly think that every little thing I do is precisely calculated. I’m just one little tanuki.” Her face moved close enough for Drew to feel her breath on his cheek. “Can’t a girl just want to have a chat?”

“I’d hardly call you a girl. That implies some degree of innocence.”

“I might start thinking you’re trying to insult me.”

Drew spat out a hollow laugh. “There’s nothing I can’t tell you that you don’t already know and love about yourself.”

“Oooh, Drew.” Her tail brushed against the back of his neck, twitching. “You know me so well. I might fall in love.”

“You’re married. Not that that means anything to you.”

“I can comfortably say you know nothing about what I have with Mitchell. Besides, he loves this sort of thing. Tells me I don’t do it enough.”

“No need to tell me he likes being a cuck, I already knew he was a scumbag.”

A laugh far darker and deeper than a woman of her size rattled out her mouth. “There’s still some hope of redemption in him; I haven’t been with him long enough yet. He does truly consider himself your friend, and that’s why I thought we’d have this little chat.”

“Possessive? Or do you think a hitman might accidentally give him a twinge of conscience?”

“He’s my husband. I’m just curious about his friends.”

“I hardly consider myself his friend.”

“I thought you realized how little what you think matters. He talks about you like you’re his friend.”

Her nimble hand found his cock and began tracing it through his pants. Drew steeled his gaze forward, but he could feel the heat of her hungry eyes on him.

“Aren’t you going to say something? Push me away? No. That isn’t how this works and you know it.”

Slowly, making a show of it, she stretched a leg across his body and settled her ass on his lap.

“When I first heard about what happened to you, my first reaction was of pity. For the ushi-oni. Rampaging through everything she’s ever done, using brute force and her robust body to get what she wants. She gets it alright, but the victory is so hollow.

“Now this? That ushi-oni’s far too simple to know what this is like, to appreciate it’s unique flavor.” She clasped her thighs tight around his waist. “Complete submission, given freely. I don’t need claws, strength, or speed. Why bother with all that when you’re already asking for it?”

Her nose dove, attacking his neck, savoring the pungent odor of sweat and fear. The tension within his muscles heated his blood to boiling. Instinct screamed at him to throw this vile parasite off of him. Every touch felt like slime, even the pillowy breasts pressing into his chest.

“But I don’t want to do that to my husband. Not today, at least.” She leaned back, smiling at him. “I think I’ll let him keep you a little longer.”

The rumble of steps down stairs grabbed Drew’s attention. Turning away from Fillian, he saw Mitch walk back into the room, chapstick in hand.

“Here you go, hun.”

Fillian had all but teleported off of him, standing like the two of them had done nothing more than chat while Mitch was away. Smiling, she accepted the chapstick.

“Thanks.” She shot Drew a sideways glance and she smothered her lips with the stuff, making a point to pop her lips before finishing up. “Now for that ushi-oni: go to Taylor’s Construction, on the east side of town, and ask for Raphia. They’ll be able to tell you where to find her. She’s a nice enough girl, but if she gives you trouble, just mention my name and she’ll be happy to help.” With a dainty wave, she skipped away, her tail bouncing up and down with her rhythm.

Drew’s body turned to mush. It took him all the concentration he had to grab the folder and stand up without flopping over.

“Leaving already?” asked Mitch.

“Yes. Still got plenty to do today.”

“Alright. See you later!”

His goodbye shout chased Drew out the front door. Drew practically ran to his car, heart already beating as if he was, slammed the door shut, hit the ignition, and peeled out as if the driveway had caught fire. The entire neighborhood could hear the tires squeal as he sped off.

He was never going to meet Mitch at his house again.

Drew drove fifteen over the speed limit all the way to his next destination: the target’s office building. As her office was in the city, he had to leave his car parked in a nearby parking garage. Grabbing a camera and a short-range telescope, he headed out to inspect the buildings nearby. Ideally, he’d set up across the street to get a good view of her slithering in and out of her office. Staking out from a roof left him a little exposed, but setting up inside would require him to find an unused room and probably break into it. From a cursory look at the buildings, none looked unused. Expected. He sighed to himself and started searching.

For the next couple hours, he entered each building, seeing what floors and rooms he could easily access and making note of how many people saw him as he worked. The roofs on all the buildings were either too high or too troublesome to access for a simple stakeout. Fortunately, Drew found an empty floor and it only took one broken lock to get on to. Seems the owners hadn’t found someone to lease the floor out to yet. It might not be empty for long, but Drew was only planning on using it for a couple of days. Fewer, with luck.

He set up his camera and telescope, pointing both at his target’s office building. Her schedule didn’t have her showing up there until tomorrow morning. That’s when he’d get a good look at her, confirm she didn’t yet have a new bodyguard, and see exactly what route she took to get inside. Given the foot traffic, however, he’d probably have to find somewhere else to do the job if he wanted any sort of seclusion. He shivered. Liess would murder him if he so much as thought about killing the lamia in a crowded street like this, especially after her warning.

Once he had triple-checked his setup, he wiped his hands of the day and headed on back to his car. It’d been a long day; he was ready for a bit of rest, even if it meant putting up with Blitz. This day, however, was not done with him yet.

Someone had broken into his car.

“The fuck!?” Drew ran over the moment he made out broken glass. The driver’s side window had been shattered, leaving a layer of glass on the ground that crunched underneath Drew’s panicked feet. Throwing the door open, his eyes flew across the interior. What did they take? Why his car? Liess was going to have a field day with him! He scrambled to the back and tossed open the trunk to check it as well. The longer he searched, however, the less agitated he became. Nothing was gone. The folder on the ushi-oni, the papers on the lamia, his weapons, the explosives--all were still in their place, as if they had never been touched.

Furrowing his brow, Drew slowly turned around. Was someone watching him? Did that ushi-oni somehow track him down again? Minutes passed. Careful eyes surveyed the area for even a hint of movement. Nothing. It’s possible it had been an accident. Drew parked on a sparsely-filled level of the garage, maybe some kids had accidentally broken the window and scrammed, or even done it on purpose as a prank. Maybe someone had come with intentions to break in, but were spooked the moment the alarm went off.

No, a robber would’ve committed to at least something, even if it was what he could grab out of the glove box. And the chances of some idiot accidentally hitting a window, this high up in a parking garage? Possible, yes, but the odds were too low. Drew wasn’t allowed to believe in coincidences like this. Unless he was the unluckiest man alive, this had to be on purpose. Intimidation? Or maybe they broke in just as he was returning, leaving them no time to properly search for the hidden compartments he kept the weapons in.

No matter what happened, he wasn’t a detective, and he couldn’t sit here on his ass. He needed to get the window replaced or move his equipment to a new car and be ready to be out here tomorrow morning. He took a glance at the sun. Twilight would be coming soon, and that was the monsters’ domain. Pulling out his phone, he took several quick pictures of the scene, in case he wanted to come back and look at it later. Liess would probably be interested, too.

He hopped in the car and buckled up, frowning at the broken window. At least it was warm out today.

**

“I very much hope you have an explanation for this.”

Drew wilted under Liess’ glare, but refused to look away.

“Nothing was taken, and other than the window, there’s no damage to the car.” Though purely by luck.

“And? I do not care zo much for vat iz missink, I vant to know vy someone broke into my car!”

“There was no one nearby when I returned, and I scouted the immediate area closely. There’s little chance anyone was watching.”

“‘Leetle chanz?’ ‘Chanz’ tells me nothink! You should know this!”

“Liess--” His voice retreated back into his throat when she stepped forward, looming over his rigid body. “Liess, I couldn’t both find a stake-out spot and watch the car at the same time. Leaving the car is a risk I’ll always have to take.”

Slender legs and methodical steps carried Liess in a tight circle around Drew. “True. Paranoia cripples just as much as sloth. But you took such a great risk with so much information and materials in the car. What if this person had taken the papers? Not only is it physical evidence against us, but anyone could easily discern what our plans were. The explosives and the weapon I so carefully crafted could be traced back to the wrong people with enough diligence.” She stopped behind Drew. “Why leave so much unattended for so long?”

“The equipment was hidden and the papers were right where I left them.”

A sharp strike left Drew’s right shoulder numb. “That is no reason, that is bargaining. Do not try that with me. Now: why leave all of that unattended for so long?”

Drew’s face grew more heated with each second the question lay in the air. “I didn’t think it was a problem.”

“Clearly, it was.” Liess strode up to the car, laying her hand softly on the broken window. “Perhaps this assignment is too much for you.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Will you?”

Drew had to gnash his teeth from yelling back at that haughty voice. “Yes, I will.”

“Good. It seems you understand the weight of this. You may go.” With a dismissive wave, Liess shifted her attention to the car, no longer acknowledging Drew even existed.

Drew’s composure collapsed the moment he was out of the room. He made a bee-line for the couch and flopped onto it. Liess would probably be devoting her time to that car until the window was fixed and she was sure everything else was in top shape. Guns might have been her favorite pastime, but anything mechanical could still get her going. This left Drew with plenty of time to mope. Alone.

Or so he thought.

“Hi-yah!”

A talon dropped from the ceiling, aimed right for Drew’s face. He rolled to the side, purely out of instinct, but still felt the pang of impact on his cheek moments before hitting the floor with a loud thud. His first thought was, ‘I hope Liess didn’t hear that.’ His second was more verbal.

“What the fuck, Blitz!?” He checked his cheek for cuts. Thankfully, Blitz had kept her claws to herself.

Blitz struck a pose on the couch. “The ninja has been out-ninja’d! Agent Ch-- Blitz has won the day!”

“Is this seriously what you do all day? And don’t you dare answer yes.”

“Yes!”

Drew pinched her belly. Hard.

“Aaah! Ninja trickery!”

“I’m not a damn ninja. Now get off the couch before Liess kills us both because you couldn’t control your talons.”

She was off before Drew could blink. If only he could get that kind of discipline from her.

“Geezus fuck!” he yelped when a surge of electricity hit his arm. “Are you kidding me?” He made a grab at Blitz, but she was already running around the couch, wings up like she was pretending to be a plane.

“A-ha! Trickery will get you nowhere! It may have taken a while, but Blitz has finally wizened to your ways! Good shall prevail!”

“Leave me alone.”

“You’re grumpy.”

“What clued you in on that?”

“Your tone.”

Drew rolled his eyes. “Can’t get anything past you.”

Blitz cocked her head then cautiously approached the couch, eventually sitting down, her back against Drew’s. He still didn’t look at her.

“Why are you so grumpy?”

A long sigh spilled out Drew’s mouth. How the hell did Liess control her? “You’re all about good guys and justice, right?”

“Yes!” A wing shot out, pointing at the sky to punctuate her point.

“Then you don’t want to hear about me.”

He heard her wing flop back down to her side and she fell silent. One of these days she was going to realize the company she kept, might as well have been today. A more perceptive person probably would’ve figured it out a while back, but Blitz spent most of her time dreaming about superheroes and not in the present.

Drew had to learn the same lesson himself long ago.

A pair of wings grabbed his shoulder and gently rocked him back and forth. “Drew. Dreeewwwww. I wanna hear what’s bugging you. I wanna hear itttt.”

She had the memory of a goldfish.

Reluctantly, Drew turned onto his back and looked up at Blitz. “If I tell you, will you leave me alone?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Her vigorous nod betrayed her enthusiasm.

“Fine.” He knew he should not be doing this. “Someone broke into the car I was using. Liess was mad about it.”

She squeezed his shoulder. “But you don’t have to be grumpy about that. It’s just a car.”

“It’s not the damage I care about. It’s the fact I let it happen.”

Blitz gave the area a quick look before turning back to Drew. “Liess was being mean, wasn’t she? She’s a mean person.”

“Liess just told me the truth of the matter.” He removed Blitz’ wing from his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me Blitz, I’m fine.”

The wing went right back. “But you’re grumpy. You’re not fine.”

“This is hardly the first time something like this has happened. I’ll be over it before I fall asleep.” He nudged Blitz off the couch. “Now get. I told you what was bugging me, so leave.”

Her head fell, but she stood up and started walking out nonetheless. “Feel better,” she mumbled, and disappeared down the stairs.

Kids were always such trouble. Here he was in a bad mood, and he ended up being the one to comfort Blitz instead of the other way around. Maybe it was a little bit his fault for moping, but the kid let anything get to her. She could be bouncing off the walls one moment and in tears the next. Drew slapped a hand to his forehead. What was he worrying about her for? She was a nuisance--a temporary one at that. Soon Liess would send her off somewhere and Blitz would be someone else’s problem. He had a job to do tomorrow morning, and it was already getting late.

As he drifted off to sleep, he thought back to the hospital room, wondering why Blitz had insisted on being there.

  
**

  
The morning was full of chills and grumbling. Drew huddled up in his jacket and took another bite of his breakfast before checking the time. Ten minutes till the lamia would show up.

Getting back to his perch was easier than he expected. At three A.M., the building was unlocked and stair access was uninhibited. No one saw him, either. On top of all that, he’d gotten a parking spot along the street, so he could keep an eye on his car while he waited for his target to show. Normally, he wouldn’t be so comfortable with keeping something that could be traced back to him or his employer in the vicinity, but the car would soon not be his problem; Liess had told him it’d be going away in a couple days and they’d be getting a different one.

After waiting around for an hour, he was ready for the lamia to show up. His attention wandered around the area, watching other people headed to wherever their lives took them on a weekday morning. The sounds of the building coming to life echoed through the empty floor. Feet scuffed above, elevators ran up and down, and the buzz of electricity woke lights from their slumber.

Down on the street, Drew spotted an ad, one for a particular Love, Inc. His mouth curled into an empty smile. Love, Inc. was the name synonymous with monstergirls, a dreadfully large and powerful corporation grown from their image. It started as a refuge, a place for monstergirls to find a home and community when the world of humans so staunchly rejected them. Then the company branched out, tried to find jobs and created programs with the aim of integration. The industry they were most well-known for was sex. Strip clubs, prostitution, porno, you name it: Love, Inc had a hand in it. Maybe it was blind luck, or maybe it was a stroke of genius, but through their actions, it wasn’t long before monstergirls became accepted.

They also happened to be Drew’s employer. No one who worked for that side of them ever called them by name, though. They were always, ‘The Company’ and nothing else. Drew was privy to some interesting intel, but not an inch more than necessary. And what he knew told him they had their ambition had yet to find its limit.

But he wasn’t there to speculate about what the Company did or didn’t want. He checked the time again. Any minute now. He double-checked his telescope and camera and began to scour the growing crowd below. All drowsiness faded away. Once-dulled eyesight sharpened to a blade’s edge. Aches and minutiae disappeared as if they were never there. This was his element. He may not have been set on killing anyone, but he focused as if he was.

Just barely behind schedule, his lamia appeared. The moment his eyes locked on her, he knew. A million details ran through his head, every little thing that made her unique burning to memory. The sway of her slither, the way she wore her hair, which shade of brown it was and how far it fell down, the stiffness of her posture, that self-absorption in her eyes, the way they flickered when she stopped and turned around. Drew blinked. Why was she turning? He looked around the crowd; they had all stopped and turned as well. Furrowing his brow in confusion, Drew turned the telescope in the direction they were looking.

He found a ushi-oni charging down the sidewalk in the lamia’s direction, and across her chest, the pattern of a wave ending on her right breast.

Drew’s jaw hit the floor.

“What the fuck.”

All he could do was stare like an idiot as she rampaged down the street. Why was she here? What was she doing? Was this some monumental coincidence? It did him no good for her to show up as he certainly couldn’t take the beast on. He hadn’t a single weapon with him aside from his baretta, and that hadn’t exactly proven useful last time.

The ushi-oni, far from caring about Drew even if she knew he was there, was bowling people over, destroying any obstacle on her warpath. Most people and monsters were smart enough to get out of her way; many started fleeing outright. She didn’t care.

Drew shifted his focus back to the lamia. She hadn’t moved an inch, just as captivated with the scene as Drew… or perhaps paralyzed with fear. Drew remembered the sight of that ushi-oni bearing down on him, that greedy smile, wild stare, and ferocity barely bound within her body. It didn’t surprise him that some would be struck silly.

Which is just what happened to Drew when the ushi-oni stopped. Right in front of the lamia. Even from the fourth story across the street, he could imagine the heat of that gaze. His heart stuttered in fear and anticipation. The ushi-oni loomed over the lamia just long enough for the two to fully comprehend the other’s presence.

Then a claw was in the lamia’s chest. The lamia didn’t seem to register what had happened. The rapidly-growing blood stain on her shirt wasn’t hers, it was someone else’s, she seemed to tell herself. The ushi-oni placed her other claw on the lamia’s chest for leverage, and without a word, ripped out her heart.

“What in the shit-fuck!”

Drew stumbled back, yanking at his hair. “What the fucking fuck! God dammit! What the fuck! Why? Why!?”

He scrambled up to his camera and began taking pictures as fast as his finger could click. He could not let himself panic. Liess would personally remove his head from his body if he dared try to explain this without proof. Just--why? Why did that ushi-oni go after her? What possible reason would bring her here? And right at this moment, too! There had to be some sort of connection.

After watching the lamia flop over like a wet sack, the ushi’s eyes then went up, looking over the buildings, sending a flash of that deranged grin to any and all who watched. Drew couldn’t be sure if she was looking for someone, or what. The windows he was behind were tinted, so he knew she couldn’t find him.

That didn’t stop the hair on the back of his neck from rising when her leer passed over the building.

Content with her execution, the ushi-oni stormed off in the same direction she had come from, those six legs carrying her off with unnerving speed. Drew quickly began packing everything up. With the lamia dead, he had no reason to come back here. Also, the police would be arriving soon, and he needed to be gone by then. His work, however, didn’t stop a string of curse words and sharp questions from streaming out of his mouth all the way to the car.

He scraped up the parking meter on his way out of his spot. Cars gave way to his hot-tempered driving on the road home. He knew he should’ve been more careful, that getting pulled over right then with so much incriminating evidence would end poorly, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. One of his targets had just killed the other right in front of him by ripping her god-damned heart out. It wasn’t crazy enough that the ushi-oni did it when Drew was watching, wasn’t crazy enough that it was the lamia he was about to kill, no, she had to top it all off by shoving her claw into the lamia’s chest and spraying her life out all over the sidewalk. That ushi was a special kind of insane.

Drew stumbled into the house, panting. “Liess! Liess!”

No answer. He ran through the living room, the kitchen, the basement, even dared to walk down the hallway to her bedroom, calling out her name, but she never showed. Blitz, however, was popped out of her room the moment she heard Drew.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Drew fell onto the couch, hand on his forehead. “Of all the times to be gone… Blitz, do you know where she went?”

Blitz shook her head. “I heard her on the phone. It sounded like someone wanted her to go somewhere, then she left.”

Blitz probably knew better than to ask Liess where she was going, too. For the briefest of moments, Drew wondered if this sudden call was related to what just happened. But he’d driven home so fast, there was no way there’d be time for the Company to hear about what happened and call Liess away. What would she do, anyway? Were they taking the ushi-oni job out of his hands and giving it to her? True, it would be something to see Liess in action, but they’d never taken such measures before, and Drew didn’t like what that meant for him if they did.

People useless to the Company tended not to last long.

“What happened?”

Blitz reminded him of her presence with the question not even Drew knew the answer to.

“Blitz, I have no idea.”

She grabbed one of his arms. “What does that mean?”

“I ran into that ushi-oni again, and she’s a psycho.”

“You saw the ushi-oni? Did she get to you?” Her grip tightened.

“No, she didn’t see me. She was too busy ripping someone’s heart out!”

“What? Why?”

“That’s just it, Blitz. I don’t know. She ran up to a lamia, killed her, and ran off.”

“W-what were you doing? Do you think she there for you, too?”

“I was-- I was just taking some pictures. No where in particular. She couldn’t have been looking for me, it wouldn’t--”

No, wait. She had stopped after she killed the lamia. She stopped and looked around, like she was hoping to find someone. Or wanted to make sure someone saw her.

No, no, that couldn’t be it. That couldn’t possibly be what that stare was for. She was just looking for someone that might try to stop her, a bodyguard or maybe the police. Fuck, maybe she was just straight-up crazy. There was no way she was looking for Drew.

Drew clawed at his face. If he just had a little more information, understood that ushi, or maybe why the Company had targeted that lamia, he could figure something out. Right now he felt like a fish out of water, a drunkard trying to drive down an unlit dirt road. Speculation would do him no good, he needed facts.

“Drew?”

Once again, he’d forgotten Blitz standing right there, clinging onto him, half for his concern, half for her own.

“Are you okay?”

A great load of tension drained out of his body with a loud sigh. Blitz. He comes running in the house, freaking out and looking for Liess, cusses his head off while describing how he’d just witnessed that ushi-oni tear a person’s heart out, and she asked if he was okay. ‘No, Blitz, I’m pretty damn not-okay,’ he thought.

“I’m fine. I just need to get back to work.”

“Are you sure?”

“Go back to whatever you were doing,” he said, hopping off the couch. “I’ve gotta go see someone about a ushi-oni.”

  
**

  
“Raphia? Yeah, she’s ‘round here.” The foreman’s eyes narrowed. “Why you lookin’ fer her?”

“Women trouble. Someone told me she could help.”

Spittle flew out the foreman’s mouth and he had himself a good laugh. “Yer pullin’ my leg. Raphia? Help with lady troubles? Shiiit, now I seen ev’rythin’.”

“Are you going to tell me where she is or not?”

“Calm down, pretty boy.” He pointed across the site. “She’s down on the other side that wall, moving some concrete blocks. Monstergirl like her don’t have a bit a’ trouble with it.” Drew turned to leave, but the foreman tapped him with a hard hat. “I ain’t gettin’ sued on account of yo’ ass not wearin’ one ‘na these. And watch yo-self, she’s alone.”

“I was planning on talking to her alone anyways,” Drew said, putting the hat on.

“Fuckin’ kid, she’s a ushi-oni. The boys here like that ‘bout her, but some scrawny thing like you may come out little worse for wear.”

“You don’t have to lecture me about being careful around those things.”

“She’s a monstergirl, not a thing. Ahh, fuck it, you ain’t my responsibility. Go get yo-self fucked.”

With that, he left Drew to his work. Luckily, he hadn’t needed to drop Fillian’s name yet, and he very much hoped to keep it that way. Invoking her influence always came back around to get you some way or another. And forget trying to keep it a secret.

Straightening his stance, Drew strolled the direction the foreman had pointed. He had to look confident, but not challenging. The ushi-oni he was hunting--well, he told himself he was the hunter--posed a very clear, qualifiable threat. This ushi, however… the thought of combining a construction worker’s mannerisms with a ushi-oni didn’t sit so well with him. Also, this was the ushi Fillian had recommended to him, so he’d be a fool to not suspect something.

The first thing he heard was the thud of a concrete block, little caution given to such a weighty thing. She came into view once he passed the wall she was working on. Drew’s first thought was that he never knew ushi-oni’s skin could vary in color. All the ones he’d seen were green, but this one was a mild shade of brown, with a round face hardened by years of physical work. Her seal was faded and covered with dirt, loose like it might fall off if she was jostled too hard. Her upper body was covered with a tight t-shirt, and fur spiraled down her arms, accentuating the muscles that strained as she worked. The constant movement of her legs grabbed Drew’s attention next, the ushi-oni’s legs like supporting pillars making small adjustments to keep her balance and allow those thick arms to move the concrete. It didn’t look easy for her, but then again, a human wouldn’t’ve even been capable of doing it.

After placing the next block, she caught eye of Drew. Her smirk was hardly as fearful as the one Drew knew, but he kept himself from relaxing.

“What’dya want, boyo?”

‘Boyo.’ Fantastic. “I was hoping you could help me.”

“Oh yeah?” She stepped away from her work, flicking sweat away from her eyes. “What’re you comin’ to a random ushi-oni for help with?”

“I’m having some trouble with another ushi-oni, and I’m not really sure how to handle her.”

She threw her head back with a hearty laugh that filled Drew’s ears like thunder. When finished, she gave Drew another glance, as if to make sure he was being serious, then started all over again.

“I’d say thanks for the laugh and send you on your way, boyo, but from that look, you seem kinda serious.”

“Is there any way you could not do the ‘boyo’ thing?”

“Whatcha plannin’ on doin’ ‘bout it, boyo?” She took a step forward and straightened her back, reminding Drew of how little he was in comparison. He did not, however, back off.

“Fine. Just answer my questions so we can get this over with.”

“Now hold up a sec there, I haven’t agreed to a thing, yet. You’re pretty funny, you got that goin’ for you, but I’m kinda wonderin’ how you found me, cause I sure as hell don’t know you.”

Drew crossed his arms. Mentioning a third party would lead to the obvious question of ‘who?’, but this ushi-oni didn’t seem like she’d be forthcoming without a straight answer. Intimidation was out of the question. He could try to trick her somehow, but that would be a gamble, and if she wisened up, she’d be pissed and may not come up with the information even if he gave Fillian’s name. Like it or not, that tanuki had him by the balls. Best to be upfront about it.

“Fillian told me to come here.”

The ushi-oni’s smile faltered, but came back more somber. “Guess that puts you and me in the same shitty boat, don’t it?”

“Yes, I guess it does.”

“Well, if answering your questions gonna get me off the hook, you ask till your mouth falls off.” She turned back to her work. “But I ain’t stoppin’ here, boss’ll have my head if I fall behind.”

“Your boss is a human male, like me. How would he take a ushi-oni’s head?”

“He signs my checks, smartass.”

No ‘boyo’ this time. Fillian knew how to ruin someone’s mood without even being there.

“Alright, then, I’ll get started. What do you think is the best way to kill a ushi-oni?”

“Kill?” She paused. “Girl’s gotta crush on you and you just wanna kill her?”

“Yes, she’s got a crush. A rather violent one.”

“Okay, but there’s still ways to deal with that that doesn’t involve killing. There are few enough ushi-onis as is.”

“The world won’t miss this one. And I’ve already tried those other ways. This one doesn’t care about law enforcement or rules. She’s feral.”

“Sounds like a piece of work.” Raphia lifted the next concrete block with a huff and dropped it in place. “Can’t say I’m all about the killing, but if you had’ta do it, I’d probably find some way to knock her out or daze her, then blow or cut off her head.” She tapped her head. “Body’s real tough to take out with our regeneration, but gas, poison, all that stuff still works just fine. Hell, even smoke’ll knock a ushi-oni out faster than a human. Need a lotta oxygen to keep this body working. Take that away and it gives out.”

The second agent had tried something like that. Poison darts. They may be effective, but you have to actually hit with them first.

“Any places you think a feral ushi-oni would hide in the city? She used to live in the wilderness out west, but it seems like she’s moved to the city temporarily.”

“Your guess as well as mine on that. But if she’s feral, she’s probably not going to be hanging around populated places, and she’s gonna want something like home, live a cave. Abandoned warehouses, parking garages, stuff like that.”

Drew wasn’t hot on the idea on roaming around the city, searching empty buildings alone with that ushi possibly inside, but it might become necessary.

“She’s been unpredictable with where and when she shows up so far. Is there I can lure her out? Force her to be somewhere?”

Grabbing the slack of her shirt, she wiped her face off, then shot Drew a sharp look. “This doesn’t sound like simple girl problems. Even for a ushi-oni.”

“Nothing’s ever so simple when Fillian gets involved.”

“Suppose you’re right about that. Ushi-onis got their own reasons for everything, just like everyone else. We’ve got the same tendencies that other monstergirls do, just with a lot more, eh, enthusiasm for them. And a body to back that enthusiasm up.” She pointed to Drew. “If she’s got a thing for breaking your bones, I’d guess she’s gonna pursue that with all she’s got. But I dunno for sure.” She shrugged. “I’m an expert on myself. Not so much ushi-onis.”

“So you’re saying I should be bait.” He certainly felt like bait already, so playing the part wouldn’t be much different. Didn’t mean he was thrilled about it, though.

“I ain’t sayin’ a thing about what you should do. I don’t really care. But you asked me if I knew how you might get a ushi-oni to come out of hiding, so I suggested something.”

“One last question.” At this point, there wasn’t much that could surprise him, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. “There anything I should keep in mind that most people don’t know about ushi-onis?”

Laying another concrete block down, Raphia paused, tapping the concrete with a single sharp fingertip. “Humans think our lust is like their's, that our heads get all fuzzy when we’re horny. But it’s the opposite: no ushi-oni ever thinks as clearly as when she’s raring to go and her target’s in her sight. Doubly so without the seal. You want to outsmart her, escape her, kill her or whatever you’re planning to do? Don’t get her turned on.”

Great. Just ask the impossible, why don’t you? Everything turned that psycho on, and from the way she had at Drew last time, as soon as she laid eyes on him, things would get only worse.

“Somethin’ else, boyo. You seem pretty set on killin’ this ushi-oni. But you may not have to. Ever thought about wooing her?”

Drew leveled a stare flat as a pancake at her.

“Don’t give me that look. You came to a ushi-oni for help with a ushi-oni, and I’m telling you: woo her.”

“She’s already pretty infatuated, and that’s exactly the problem.”

“No, dumbass, it ain’t. The problem is HOW she’s infatuated. We ushi-onis get all riled up about a guy, and then we take what we want until we’re satisfied. Without a seal and some kinda self-control, that tends to leave guys a little banged up.”

“I was in the hospital for four days.”

Raphia gestured as if he’d said the obvious. “Like I said, a little banged up. But that’s just how we show affection. We don’t half-ass it. It feels right to do it, to pour everything out without reservation in order to make sure our man knows how we feel. It’s an instinct.”

“Okay, so is there someway to counter that instinct?”

“You meet it halfway. We go crazy because we have to know our man recognizes how we feel. So if you show affection yourself, if you woo her…”

“Then she won’t feel such a need to show how she feels and might tune the rape dial back to a nine.”

“I was thinkin’ somethin’ more like a five or six.”

“That’s still pretty rough.”

“But it won’t kill you.” She waved him off. “It’s ushi-oni, boyo, ‘pretty rough’ is a good deal.”

He pinched his lip, watching Raphia work a moment while he considered the advice. Wooing the ushi-oni might be a good way to catch her off-guard, too. It might end up being the first time anyone’s ever been receptive.

“Thanks for the info,” said Drew. Not all of it was helpful, but it wasn’t all useless, either. Only time would tell if he could make use of it. He started back toward his car.

“Next time you see Fillian, tell her she can go fuck herself,” said Raphia at his back.

“I’ll do that for the both of us.”

**

For the first time in his life, Drew witnessed Liess being pissed at something other than himself. It was relieving in a way, knowing her mind was too preoccupied to focus on him and his colossal failure.

He sat up straight on her couch, hands in his lap, patiently watching Liess’s composed pacing. The blue dress she wore told him she’d just gotten back from a meeting with someone above her; she’d never let a dress touch her skin otherwise. Her hair looked odd free of its usual ponytail, draped like a stained blonde sheet across her shoulders, static and stress beginning to pull at it. Focused, calculated eyes bore into the floor, occassionally darting to Drew the moment he let his posture slip. He yearned to spill out a dozen questions, but kept them all inside.

“Und you are sure it was ze same ushi-oni?”

“Absolutely. The pattern across her chest and the chipped horn were exactly like I remembered.”

“Und she knew exhackly vho to kill?”

“Ran straight at her, no hesitation. Left right away, too.”

“No attempt to conceal ‘erzelf?”

“If anything, it was the opposite.”

Liess paced across the room several more times before walking up to the wall, spinning on her heel, then leaning against it.

“She must ‘ave been ze one to break into your car.”

Drew bit his lip, feeling a good reaming about to hit him. “I was just thinking that too.”

“Yet she is clearly not a fan of conventional weaponry, seeing as she did not take the explosives or the rifle. Perhaps we can use this in the future.”

Drew nodded, but wasn’t so convinced it would help. The ushi-oni had been getting along fine without guns or explosives, why would she need them now?

“I was thinking, with all the witnesses, surely someone has--”

Liess stopped him with a hand. “Something else has come up.”

Drew swallowed. He hadn’t been expecting to hear about whatever she’d gone to talk with her bosses about so soon. But what else could this something else be?

“You and the bird are to be relocated. There is a place already prepared.” Without turning from Drew, she beckoned with a finger down the hall to the basement. A second later, a timid Blitz appeared.

“You are going to ‘ave to be much more stealthy than that to eavesdrop on me,” said Liess. “But I allowed you to hear because this concerns you as well. Get packed, the both of you. You will be leaving in twenty minutes.”

“Where are we going?” asked Drew.

“Further into the city. Not too far from where you were before that demon cow drove you out.” She shooed them both to their rooms. “Go!”

Drew never had much to pack. In fact, he’d never owned anything he’d call precious. His parents hadn’t left him anything, and the Company moved him here and there whenever it pleased them, so he hadn’t grown attached to any one place in particular. All he really made sure he kept was his jacket; it had served him well for quite some time. His baretta, too, now that he thought about it.

Blitz was an audible flurry of activity. The Company and the ushi had taken or destroyed most of what she owned, but from all the rustling and packing going on, Drew could tell she still had some things to her name. Who knew how long they would last.

Twenty minutes later, they were both packed and loading up Liess’ car. Drew stole glances at Blitz, wondering how she’d handle another move so quickly, but it seemed she wasn’t about to break down. She kept a focused expression, one he’d seen in the mirror before. Her attention stayed more on what was happening at the moment than what was down the road. A healthy way to handle it, thought Drew. If you got too wound up in the future, you’d never find a way to settle for the present.

She glanced over at Drew, probably wondering how he felt as well. He gave a noncommittal shrug before tossing the last of his stuff in the car.

The drive passed in silence. Drew was content to stare out the window, but Blitz couldn’t stop fidgeting. She’d watch Drew for a moment, then Liess, then look out her window, but never kept her attention in one place for long. Ordinarily, Drew would attribute this to her hyperactive disposition, but this time it seemed like something else. Anxiety.

Drew knew the area Liess parked in, and found himself even more curious. Cautious, too. They’d stopped in a monster ghetto, about a low-key as one could get, and somewhere the Company often stashed the hottest people, monsters, or cargo. The fact that this was where him and Blitz’d be staying for a while meant one of them had probably gained the interest of undesirable parties… and likely in danger. Could he have been spotted at the scene of the lamia’s murder? Or maybe someone recognized his car? That could explain all the fuss today, but Liess hadn’t been angry at him specifically.

No use speculating it to death. Their new home waited for them, and with it probably an explanation from Liess.

The apartment complex smelled of sex and damp cardboard. Drew was constantly watching his step, making sure not to step in the various puddles of mysterious liquid on the floor. He heard Blitz mutter “yucky” behind him, her feathers ruffled and sparks jumping between them. The stairs creaked beneath heavy steps, loud enough for the entire floor to hear. Drew frowned at the stains on the walls. He fought down a gag when the smell of the place forced its way into his mouth. Easily one of the worst places he’d stayed for sure, a consequence of sloppy work. He threw a quick look over his shoulder at Blitz; she wasn’t handling it any better.

Liess stopped them both with a gesture, in front of what he assumed to be their new apartment. To Drew’s surprise, she looked like she was about to gag herself.

“I suggest you keep that baretta holstered, Drew.”

His face wrinkled in confusion, but she didn’t explain. When she opened the door and showed them inside, he had all the explanation he needed.

The ushi-oni was waiting for them.

Drew instantly dropped his bags and reached for his baretta. Liess was faster, snatching his wrist before he was halfway there.

“I just told you to keep it holstered! Are you really so lacking in discipline?”

“Are you blind!?” he asked, struggling to free his hand.

“Are you deaf?” Liess stepped toward him, looming with a darkened expression. “You’re not here to kill her.”

“Maybe that’s what you think! That bitch--”

“--raped you hard enough to put you in the hospital for several days. I know. But you are still my subordinate and you will listen when I speak!” Her grip tightened to the point of pain. “Do you understand?”

Drew’s glare burned red-hot hatred into the ushi-oni, only intensified by the deranged grin she shot back. His grip on the pistol tightened. Liess moved between him and the ushi to block his vision.

“Step outside.”

She spun him around, putting him face to face with a terrified Blitz. Liess shooed her away and dragged Drew down the hall out of earshot. She threw him against the wall and held him there with one hand on his chest.

“You should know better than to question me.”

“Liess, I’m not going to have anything to do with that insane, murderous bitch of a monster except to dig her grave!”

“Drew.” She spoke with dreadful precision, but no anger. “I do not like this either. But the decision has been made, and we are to both accept it.”

“Why? Why the hell do they want me living with that thing instead of killing her on sight?”

She let him off the wall and wiped off her dress before replying. “They decided not to have her killed yet because they see value in her living. She is living with you because that is what she asked of the Company when she came to us.”

Drew gaped at her for a minute. “She asked to live with me??”

“Yes. If you want to know why, you will need to ask her.”

“And we--your boss--agreed with this?”

“She offered something the Company finds valuable at the moment: manpower. By killing three skilled agents, nearly crippling a fourth and eliminating the lamia, she has shown she’s rather capable. Plus, by using her, the Company no longer has to invest resources into killing her.”

“Yeah, I’m not arguing she can’t maul the shit out of someone, I’m wondering how someone thought it would be okay to stick her in the same room as someone who she nearly killed.”

Liess crossed her arms. “The benefits outweigh the consequences. If you end up killing her, it doesn’t matter, she was going to be dead anyways. If she kills you, the Company still gets to use her, and they aren’t so broken up about an agent incapable of taking out his target. If you two find a way to tolerate each other, the Company gets to keep one of their agents and retains a powerful killing machine.”

“So you’re saying it’s still alright if I kill her.”

Liess gave a cruel smirk. “That’s the plan eventually. Some people are still sour at losing three agents to that beast, and she’s far too dangerous to try to control. They only intend for her to be used in one specific operation before letting you do your job.”

“And what about Blitz?”

Liess’ gaze sharpened. “Since when did you care about your juvenile roommate?

“I don’t--” He fought to keep eye contact with Liess, but couldn’t help looking down to the other end of the hallway where Blitz fidgeted about. “Look, it’s not right to stick her--or anyone, really--in the same room as that psycho.”

“The ushi-oni said Blitz would not be harmed.”

“And you trusted her?”

“It’s not about whether I trusted her or not.” She poked Drew in the chest. “And if you are worried about her, then it will be up to you to keep her safe. Is such responsibility too difficult for you to handle?”

“How long.”

Liess cocked her head.

“How long do I have to wait before taking her out.”

“A week.”

Scowling, Drew glanced at the open door where his opponent waited. “I can do patient. I won’t like it, but I can do it.”

“There will be something in it for you if you do.”

“Watching her die will be reward enough.”

“I take it you are prepared to go back in there now and act with at least some sense of civility?”

“I won’t pull my gun out, if that’s what you mean. Assuming she doesn’t do anything fishy.”

“Good.”

She lead the way back to the room. Drew’s gaze immediately darkened as he saw the ushi-oni once more. Her hair was as demented as she, unkempt and dark as ink, broken up only by the dirtied red seal over her left eye and her cruelly twisted horns. Recognizing the broken-off tip on the left one and the wave pattern on her chest dredged up grim memories of their meeting in the old apartment. The color of her skin reminded him of dark algae and her scent tasted like bile. She stood there like nothing else in the world mattered but boring down on Drew with that invasive, perverted stare of hers. Golden eyes flashed with focus and madness and he met them with discipline. He heard Blitz shuffle in behind him just before the ushi-oni spoke.

“Hello there.” A dark, silky voice like molasses forced its way into his ears.

She waited, perhaps expecting a response, but Drew wasn’t interested in giving her one. Undeterred, she began to step forward.

Drew tensed, shifting his stance to be ready for anything. As much as his body demanded, he did not run. There were two people, two monsters in this room counting on him not to.

When she raised a hand, he nearly lashed out, but all she did was rest it on his head and give it a little squeeze, tilting it back so their eyes could meet properly at such a distance.

“I’m Ishawna. I’m looking forward to living with you.”

Not for long, thought Drew. “Feeling isn’t mutual.”

Her grin widened. “That just makes things all the more interesting.”

A pair of wings grabbed Drew’s shoulder and tried to pull him away from Ishawna. Surprised, Drew looked back at Blitz to see her fighting to stand up tall. She wasn’t visibly quaking, but she wasn’t about to lash out at Ishawna, either.

“I don’t like you. I know the bad guys when I see them.”

“I really don’t care what you think.” She didn’t even look at Blitz.

“What if I agree with her? What if I think you’d be better off rotting in a ditch off the side of the road somewhere?” said Drew.

“That’s what makes this work so well. Both of us know how to kill and have every reason to kill each other, but we’re both still alive.” Her grip on his head tightened. “What made you miss me? You’ve competent enough with a weapon, yet that bullet missed its mark. And why are you still alive? Your wight friend may have driven me off, but I left you broken, unconscious, bleeding out of a dozen wounds.”

“Thick bones,” said Drew. Her face, a foot from his own, was begging for a punch. Right in the chin, maybe. It would hurt his fist like hell, but seeing her bite her own tongue off would be well worth it.

Liess stepped in before he could act. With a hand on each Drew and Ishawna’s shoulders, she pried them apart.

“I take it you remember the conditions,” she said to Ishawna, who had yet to take her eyes off Drew.

“My memory’s just fine.”

“Then you know neither of these two are to come to any harm.”

“Don’t worry, they won’t.”

Her silky voice didn’t elicit an iota of trust from Drew.

“Good. I will take my leave, but before I do, let me educate you on something.” She leaned into Ishawna’s face, ignoring the height difference. “I am not my student. If I find you have done anything to him or his charge here, then I will not wait for the order to take you down. I will hunt you, I will find you, and I will end you with such suffering you forget who you are before it ends.”

“Fine with me. Bye.”

Liess shot Ishawna one last glare before heading out the door. Drew could hear the aged floor creaking beneath her feet with every step, fading into the distance to nothing. He tensed, squeezing Blitz’s wing to make sure she was still there, and let his jacket fall open in case he needed to grab his baretta.

Ishawna laughed. Her entire body shook with it. She placed a claw on her chest and her legs started skittering about. Even her pedipalps moved, swiping at the air in front of her.

“You two look hilarious right now! Not just because you’re terrified, but because you think that if you were to try something you could actually stop me. I already said I wasn’t going to hurt either of you. Besides, we’re all living here together now. You’re going to have to get used to being around me sooner or later.” She looked at the bags they’d brought in. “Looks like you’ve got some things to move in. Would you like some help?”

“No, we’re fine.”

She gave Drew a look before heading out the door. He poked his head out to see her walking toward the stairs. “I said we were fine.”

“I heard you. But I only asked if you wanted help. I didn’t say I would care which way you answered.”

Drew kept an eye on her until she was out of sight, then turned back to Blitz. Instead of clinging to him, however, she was shying away.

“Why did she say you knew how to kill?”

Geezus. Drew rubbed his forehead. This was not a good time. Well, it wasn’t like he never expected this to come up, but he’d expected Blitz to already have the whole thing figured out. Apparently she was thicker than he figured. “Blitz, I’ll answer your question, but I’m not going to leave that thing alone with all our stuff. You can help if you want, or you can pick out a room, doesn’t matter, but I can’t talk right this second. Alright?”

She nodded meekly, then hesitantly turned away and wandered further into the apartment. Drew couldn’t blame her; every second he spent with Ishawna made his skin crawl. And he was going to have to keep it up for a week.

He caught up to Ishawna as she was walking out the front door. He spotted his and Blitz’s stuff on the sidewalk, next to the empty parking spot where Liess’ car had been. Part of him wished she’d stuck around a little longer, but he knew her presence would ultimately hurt more than help. He had to figure out how to deal with this ushi on his own.

Rushing ahead of Ishawna, he grabbed his last bag and as much as Blitz’s stuff as he could. Ishawna grinned at him as he passed her. She’d deliberately taken up the entire sidewalk, forcing him to walk through the mud and weeds to get around her.

What was she trying to prove, anyways? That she was stronger? That she could scare him? Those things were already pretty damn obvious. Did she get off on this? He wouldn’t put that past a ushi-oni. Grumbling, he shook his head. He couldn’t approach this matter with that attitude. Yes, Ishawna was a ushi-oni, but that wasn’t all she was. There was more to her, something that made her kill that lamia, made her drag Drew into this, made her kill those agents but oddly no one else, at least as far as Mitch’s information knew.

Drew found the room Blitz picked out for herself and dropped her things in it. Blitz looked his way when he entered, but didn’t say anything. Her mouth tried at a smile, but Drew only saw the doubt in it. Soon, he told himself. He’d tell her soon.

He stopped himself in the hallway. When did he start feeling like he owed Blitz anything? She’d be leaving soon enough. She was knee-deep in her own problems, just like Drew. He should be sorting himself out first.

Back in the living area, Ishawna had tossed the remainder of Blitz’s bags in the corner and sprawled herself onto the couch. Half her legs were hanging off the back of the couch where she rested an arm while her others were braced against the floor. Drew hadn’t expected her to try to use the furniture, but it wasn’t the first time he’d seen an arachne-type monstergirl sit on a couch, either.

“Sit down,” she said, pointing to a chair across from her. “I want to talk to you.”

“Talk with yourself.”

He made to pass her on his way to Blitz’s bags, but the moment he was within her reach she snatched his arm, yanked him over the back of the couch and plopped him down so his back was against her chest. He tried twisting out of her grip, but she held fast and her pedipalps were quick to pin him against her. With his other hand, he grabbed her claws to yank them off. She grabbed other wrist and held his hands away from each other. Drew squirmed and thrashed against her hold, trying to find some leeway with her hands and pedipalps, but failed miserably. When he realized he was only wasting energy, he began to kick at whatever part of her his legs would reach.

“Stop throwing a tantrum or I’ll have to web you up, and that’d be more annoying for the both of us.”

“Fuck off, psycho. Let go of me!” he said with another thrash.

“First off, I want to know how you first found me.”

Drew didn’t answer. He kept twisting and jerking his arms in an attempt to free them of her iron grip.

“A bullet of that size through the chest is a very upfront greeting, though I would’ve preferred you stuck around so chasing you down hadn’t taken so long.”

“Fuck. Off.” He tried shifting his body away to get leverage, using his feet to push, but her pedipalps were stronger.

“It probably would’ve been more fun to find you without using the wolfgirls, but that bullet had me so hot I would’ve melted in my own juices had I been away from you for a second longer than necessary.” She collected his wrists in one hand and absentmindedly pet his head with the other.

The moment those claws scratched his scalp, he saw red.

Frenzy in his eyes, he thrashed, seized, and hollered. His body grew hotter and hotter with rage and effort, muscles straining to their breaking point. He kicked at her legs, bashed his forehead into her arms, fought he with everything he had. One of his headbutts connected with the right bone on her arm, and suddenly his hands were free. He was still pinned against her, but now he could fight. One, two, three solid punches connected with her face, the last actually wiping that insane grin off it, if only for a second. She tried to grab his wrists again, but a jab at her chin stunned her. He then moved to her pedipalps, trying to wrench them off, but they held fast. Drew didn’t know enough about ushi-oni anatomy to know where to strike, but he made his best guess, bringing his elbows down on either side of him, right where her pedipalps met her body.

It was enough. She let go, and Drew immediately push off her. Yet just as he turned to put more distance between them, she hooked a claw on the collar of his jacket and dragged him right back into her grasp. This time, she held him close with a crushing hug, pinning his arms to his sides. Back to square one.

She brought her mouth down to his ear. “Keep fighting. You have no idea how hot I am right now. Another minute of this and I won’t be able to hold myself back.” Her eyes opened wide, madness dancing in them, and her teeth gleamed in a wide grin. “Do you think you could make it all the way to the ground floor this time?”

“U-unhand him, fiend!”

No. Drew’s face paled. Damnit, Blitz, don’t do this. This is not the time for your stupid antics!

Ishawna groped at his chest. “Well, do you think I should let you go? I’m not so sure with how rowdy you’ve been.”

“I said unhand him!”

Drew cricked his neck looking back at Blitz. She was smart enough to stay out of reach, but her reckless bravery was about to overcome her preservation instinct. Ishawna pat Drew’s head and gave him a look.

“Blitz, go back to your room.”

“No! She’s doing evil things! Even if--”

“Blitz, room.”

Her face soured with a frown. “Why?”

“Because I said so, idiot.” She took a tentative step backward. “Go!” yelled Drew, and she was gone.

Ishawna released Drew in a fit of laughter. He was halfway across the room in an instant but still glaring daggers at her. While smacking the couch, she’d laugh at the ceiling, look back to Drew, then break into more laughter.

“You’re so protective! Is she your sister?”

“Eat a flaming pile of shit.”

She punched the couch, erupting into laughter once more. “And sensitive about it, too!” Eventually she settled down and got right back to business. “Now, how did you find me the first time?”

Drew shook his right hand, the one that had connected with her chin. It’d be aching for at least a day.

“A hint from my employer. They’d been on the lookout for you ever since the last agent died and someone spotted you out in the wilderness. Wasn’t that specific about it, but a general area, careful tracking and an element of stealth was enough to locate your cave.”

“How long after you found it did you set your trap?”

“Next day.”

Ishawna bit her lip. “Eager? I can understand that.”

“I wasn’t eager or hesitant, fucklegs. It was my job; I did it because I was supposed to. I’m not like you.”

Her smile wrinkled her cheeks. “Really? Is that what you think?” She slid a finger across her chin. “How many people have you killed, I wonder?”

“As many as I needed. I’m not lying to myself about that.”

“See? A similarity already: we’re both honest with ourselves. But why do you do what you do? Why are you a killer? Why do you work for the people you work for?”

“Circumstance. And killing’s the one thing I’m good at.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“No. But I don’t hate it.”

She shook her head. “That’s no way to live. Slave to circumstance, not doing something you love? Doing what you love’s the whole point of life.”

A blast of laughter ran out past Drew’s lips. “Who the hell are you to say something like that? You’re a mindless psycho rape machine. What the fuck do you know about life?”

“I know what I love doing, and I know I want to keep doing it.”

Drew crossed his arms. “What’s that, raping people? Or do you like the killing part better?”

“I love fun and excitement. Whatever leads me to that, I’ll follow.” She rested her head in one of her massive palms. “Things were actually becoming pretty boring before your company started sending men after me. My life was surviving in a wilderness full of inferior creatures, with the only thing even remotely thrilling being the minor raids I made in town. It’s so boring, just surviving. You breathe, you walk, you eat, and every now and then catch a fuck.” She rolled her eyes. “Even fucking was beginning to lose its luster. Can you imagine what it was like when that first explosion went off? When I found myself half-buried in rubble and for the first time in years, feeling pain?!”

Drew yawned into his hand.

“That first agent I didn’t even think about killing until he was already a mess on the ground. I’d lost myself in pleasure, something I hadn’t done in so, so long. That’s what living is! I almost feel sorry that you’re throwing your life away.”

“Oh no, how unfortunate of me to not have your sympathy.” He jabbed a finger at her. “I never even wanted your interest in the first place. Could you try losing that, too?”

“You are the first one to live after I had my way with you. Maybe you had a better doctor. Maybe it was because your wight friend made it in time to save you. Maybe you’re stronger than the others. Doesn’t matter. All I know is that you’re different, and that can lead to very exciting things.” Her claws clicked as she tapped them against her leg. “One day you may outsmart me and lead me into a trap. Or maybe that wight will make good on her promise after you’ve joined those agents before you. We may end up fighting each other to the death with nothing but will, muscle, and bone. I don’t know what will happen, all I know is that something very exciting is approaching, and you’re at the middle of it.”

**

“Something very exciting is approaching, and you’re at the middle of it.”

The words had been echoing in Drew’s head for the past day. There was always the possibility Ishawna had been lying, of course, and if her aim was to fuck with Drew’s head then she had already achieved her goal. But why bring it up? Was this all just another way for her to have fun? Not happy with just fucking his body, she wanted his head, too?

Yet, he couldn’t dismiss the possibility she was telling the truth. That something was brewing, something he’d been kept in the dark about. It’s not like this was the first time the Company--Liess, in particular--had kept secrets from him, but whatever was about to happen involved him directly, if Ishawna was telling the truth.

Drew raised his head and stared at the door to the hallway. He’d holed up in his bedroom to get some precious space from Ishawna. The ushi-oni followed him around relentlessly, watching his every move as long as he wasn’t in his bedroom. She could’ve come in his bedroom, too, and he wouldn’t be able to stop her, but for some reason she was respecting it. The way she tailed him might even be called cute if she didn’t always have that crazy smile on, mouth slightly open, those piercing yellow eyes never blinking.

If that was cute, so was puking into a pile of shit.

The bedroom next to his was Ishawna’s. She’d purposefully picked the one in the middle to make sure Drew couldn’t pick one further away. He’d yet to see her stay in there for more than a few minutes, though. She spent almost all her time in the living area, doing whatever it is ushi-onis did until Drew was out and about at which time she’d go into stalker mode.

Blitz’s room lay at the end of the hall, and its silence spilled out into the hall so bluntly he couldn’t possibly ignore it. He stood up and took a deep breath, then walked out to her room and grabbed the doorknob. He’d put this conversation off a day too long.

“Blitz, I’m coming in.”

“‘Kay.”

Drew could already feel Ishawna’s eyes on the back of his head. With one smooth motion, he opened the door, slipped in, and closed it behind him. This had nothing to do with Ishawna. She could stay out there and keep to herself.

On the bed, Blitz sat with her back against the wall and legs sprawled out with a book in her wings. Drew briefly wondered why it wasn’t a cell phone then remembered the Company would’ve taken anything like that. She wore a light blue dress that made it down to just above her knees, small frills at the edges. Not something he’d usually expect from her. Hard to fight evil and strike poses in a dress.

“What’dya want?”

She tried to sound casual, but from the way she kept the book blocking her face, Drew could tell it was an act.

“I said I’d answer that question. Now’s probably a good a time as any.”

“Mmm?”

Drew cringed inwardly. He’d already waited too long and given her time to come up with answers of her own. He looked around for a chair, but the only thing to sit on in the room was her bed, and he didn’t want to get too close to her for this. Standing it was, then.

“Why that ushi said I knew how to kill.”

The book slowly dropped. She couldn’t deny her curiosity. “Then, you…?”

“Yes. Many times.”

“But they’re all bad guys, right?”

Might as well be, thought Drew. “Not… necessarily.”

“So they’re making you do it?”

“Not really.”

“Then some of them were an accident?”

“None of them.”

“Then--”

“Blitz, stop trying to make excuses for me. I’m not a good guy.”

“But you’re fighting that ushi-oni, aren’t you? And she’s evil.”

Drew rolled his eyes. “To me, to you, yeah, she’s kind of a bitch.” He said that part extra loud. “Some of the other monsters I’ve killed probably weren’t so much. At least, that’s my guess. I don’t really get to know them all that well.”

Blitz looked ready to crumble. “Then why?”

“I’m pretty good at it. It’s kind of what I grew up into. And there was no where else for me to go.”

“There had to be somewhere else, something else you could’ve done. They tricked you, didn’t they!?”

“Blitz, I told you once, I’ll tell you again: don’t make excuses for me. I know exactly what I’m doing and what that makes me.”

“But you can’t just… just…”

Oh, god, she was about to cry. He didn’t know how to handle kids for shit. Drew took a step forward but reconsidered. That might hurt more than anything.

“Do you, uh, want the whole story?” Maybe if he kept talking she wouldn’t break down.

“Umm,” she looked around the room, then buried her head in her knees. “Yeah.”

“Its…” Drew trailed off, unsure of where to start. If he were to truly go to the beginning of all this, then that meant his childhood. He almost chuckled to himself--Blitz was going to be the first person he’d ever talked about that with outside of Liess, and that had been more business than anything.

“If I’m going to explain it, I’ll start with my parents. My father used to work construction, and my birth mother had died not long after I was born. Some accident, I was told, but nothing more. Probably something to do with monsters, the way my dad hated them. Well, he hated almost all of them. My stepmother was a succubus. She never told me exactly what her job was, but I’m guessing it wasn’t a lot different than what I do now. Either that, or she picked up the craft incredibly fast. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

“My father was an amazing father, or so I was told. I was too young to remember much of what he did, but my mother and the people that had associated with him told me as much when I grew up. Always put me first, kept himself in shape, kept a steady though grueling job, and looked out for me. He met my mother when I was four or so, I think. Thought she was attacking me and got in a few good punches before she was able to explain. One of the rare succubi that actually asked a guy out before fucking him wild. I didn’t know this, of course.” Drew shrugged and found himself sitting on the bed, facing away from Blitz. “But apparently that was enough for my father to give her a chance.

“Her name was Bevlt, a sturdy demon only a couple inches shorter than my father. Purple skin so smooth light gleamed off it like it was polished, wings and a lithe tail darker than black. She said she’d first run into my father while walking past a site he was working on and joined in with a couple other monsters cat-calling the men.” Drew glanced back at Blitz. “My mother told me it used to go the other way around, oddly enough.

“My mother did some, eh, mild stalking before deciding to ask my father out. Where my father was rough, she was sharp. He was more abrasive and straightforward, she was sly and subtle. Apparently those things go well together, because they got married a year later.” Drew squinted at the dull yellow light on the ceiling. “Could’ve been the sex too, though.

“When I was six or so, my father joined the Paladins. You’ve probably heard of them at some point, being a monster yourself, though they’re not the organization they were fifteen years ago. He learned to fight under the Paladins. They may be all human, but they’ve got some interesting anti-monster techniques and tools, some of which I use myself.

“Mom wasn’t that big a fan of it, and she tried to convince him to leave them, but never had much success. It was always dangerous as a Paladin, even a married one. It’s the one exception to the relationship boundaries they--monsters--almost always respect. And it’s not just like Paladins got kidnapped and raped--a lot of them died. For them, it was a war, and plenty of monsters treated it same as they did.

“One day, my father didn’t come back.”

Blitz unhid her face from behind her wings. Her expression looked even more frail than before. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s a long time passed.” His eyes met Blitz’s. “Anyways, my mom was pretty sad for a while, but it wasn’t long before that sorrow turned to anger. I was old enough to realize what had happened, and why she’d be sad, but her anger was something else. She didn’t scream and rage about, she just started going out and killing monsters. Don’t know who exactly, probably revenge at first, but after that who knows? Wasn’t subtle about it to me, either. In fact, when I turned sixteen, she started training me to kill as well.”

“What!?” said Blitz. “But, you’re not supposed to kill the bad guys, just knock them out and give them to the police!”

Drew narrowed his eyebrows at her. “Where did you get that idea?”

She looked away. “Superman.”

Kids, Drew thought with a groan. “Real life isn’t like that, especially when you have a scorned wife and a kid who's been raised to hate the very existence of monsters. And the police? They’re run by the mayor. Who, at the moment, is completely under the control of a monster. Send any monster who’s fighting for their side to the police and they’ll be out before you can blink.”

“But aren’t the police mostly human?”

“Humans who listen to their bosses. And who knows how many of them are married to monsters.”

“But… that seems… well…”

He knew what was going through her head. Two sides of her fought inside her mind: the part that knew how cruel humans could be, that knew their cold distaste from her past, and the part that told her ‘this is still wrong.’

“Not fair,” she managed to get out.

Drew gestured with a finger. “If there was one thing the Paladins were right about, it’s that this is a war, and in war, if you want to win, you don’t fight fair.”

“I haven’t seen any battles. I haven’t seen armies fight. How is it a war without those?”

“What you’re thinking about--thousands of men marching toward an horde of monsters until one side kills more than the other--war isn’t always like that. We still don’t know how the monsters showed up here, but whether it was deliberate or not, they couldn’t show their hand right away. They had to figure out what they were up against, who and what was here. My guess is that once they found the male half of our species malleable to their influence, they decided to take invade slowly with subterfuge rather than force.”

Blitz stared hard at the floor. “I… but… why would we do this? Why not just live with you guys? I thought we were getting along.”

Drew hunched over to cover a snort and a laugh. Yes, they’d been getting along just so well. “Ask the ones who fight. In the end, though, I don’t think there’s any good answer. I’d say fear probably brought both sides to the edge, but as for what pushed them over it? Dunno. All I know is I’ve got a job because of it.”

“You could’ve done something else!”

“Could I?” Drew looked deep into her eyes. “Could I really? Killing was part of my life, whether I liked it or not. The only way for me to live was by adapting to it, learning it myself. It’s what I do.”

She lunged forward, grabbing Drew’s shoulder. “Don’t talk like that! I know you could be something else!”

“Oh, really? You know?” Drew removed her wings from his shoulder. “Like what?”

“Well,” she said, her eyes wandering in a frantic search, “a policeman! Or, um, an architect!”

Drew didn’t know which was more absurd. “Yes, a policeman, of course, and just get raped by every monster I ran into on the job. And an architect? Are you serious? Why the fuck would you say that?”

“You’re, uh, good at analyzing things and, uh, putting together a plan.”

“And I know fuck all about buildings except how to take them down.” He stood up off the bed to look down at Blitz. The sad thing looked ready to burst into tears, but Drew wouldn’t be doing her any favors by going soft on her. “I’m a high school dropout, Blitz. Senior year my mom decided school was too dangerous and taught me killing full-time. If it doesn’t have to do with killing, I’m an idiot about it.”

Now she faced the floor. “You could learn,” she mumbled.

“Not me. Maybe you, when all this is over, but this here is my life, regardless of whether I chose it or not. Anything else’ll get me killed.”

“There’s gotta be some way out of it, right? Can’t you quit? I’ll go with you…”

Drew could feel his hands curling into fists, his blood burning hot enough to steam. “Blitz. No.”

“If you just left the city, even the country if you had to, I’m sure you could--”

Eyes alight with anger, Drew shoved his face into Blitz’s. “Do you have ANY idea what kind of situation you’re in? Why you have to live in a shitty apartment with a couple of murders? Why you can’t call anyone, can’t tell anyone your real name, can’t even send a fucking email? There has to be some end to your cluelessness!”

“I’m not clueless…”

Dammit, now he’d done it. Tears fell down her cheeks, her eyes weeping stubbornness and pain. Drew bit his lip to keep himself from apologizing--that wouldn’t help anyone. Blitz had to see how stupid she was acting.

“I know why I’m here. I think.”

Drew cocked his head. “It’s not because someone’s trying to get you to make friends, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“You’re not funny.”

“I’m not trying to be.”

She grimaced then poked at the bed. “I think someone’s after me. Someone that your… that these people are fighting against.”

“Oh?” Maybe he had been wrong about her. “And why would someone be after you?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Well, unless you want to be stuck running around with people like me the rest of your life, I suggest you figure that out.”

“Mmm.”

He let the silence hang, giving Blitz a moment to speak up if she wished. Her thoughts, however, remained inward. Before he could leave, though, he’d have to give her some sort of encouragement. Leaving her like this would be cruel. Even though he’d come in here to explain himself, it’d ended up a lecture. Should’ve expected that; he’d always been short with kids. Watching her quietly wring out the last of her tears, Drew rocked back and forth then laid a hand on her head.

“Just try not to die. You don’t belong in the middle of all this.”

With rigid steps he walked out of her bedroom, glancing back at the curled up bundle of Blitz on her bed every half step until the door clicked shut. A muffled “thanks” caught him before he walked off. He smiled in spite of himself.

A sigh left him as he stared down the hallway. If he was going to be tackling elephants today, why not take on the other? There was a six-legged one with crazy eyes waiting for him in the living room, and he was sure she wouldn’t mind him taking some frustration out on her. She’d survived worse.

Her eyes molested him the moment he walked in the living room. At the moment, she sat on the floor, a tablet in her hands that she lowered as her attention left it. Drew was almost surprised she could read, but reminded himself she wasn’t stupid, just rabid. Their eyes remained locked on each other as he walked to the couch and sat down.

It was nice for once to be the one looking down on her.

“What did you mean.” He didn’t speak it as a question.

“What are you talking about?” she said, flashing him a grin.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

She shrugged. “I’m pretty slow. You’ll have to spell it out for me.”

Why did he expect this conversation to be the slightest bit easy? “What did you mean when you said I was at the middle of something?”

“Ohh, that. I’d completely forgotten. Has it been bothering you?”

She spoke with a tone that could piss off a puppy.

“Just answer the question,” he said.

“I don’t think so, not until you answer mine.”

He’d rather shove a splinter in his eye.

“Fine. Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, it’s been bothering me you shitstick of a spider. Now answer the question.”

“You know, I’m a little surprised you don’t already know yourself. It concerns you pretty directly.” She tapped her cheek with a claw. “Perhaps your wight friend has been keeping secrets from you?”

“Undoubtedly. But she wouldn’t keep a secret like this from me. You’re full of shit.”

“I guess we’re stuck. If you won’t believe me, then I’m might as well say nothing. I won’t tell you what you want to hear just to make you feel at peace. I bet you don’t even know what that is you want to hear anyways.”

“I didn’t come here to play games with you. Tell me what I want to know or I’m done.”

The smirk she shot him made his blood boil. “Threatening to leave the very conversation you started? What do you think that’s going to get you?”

“Fuck this.” Drew stood up and started back toward his room, but Ishawna stopped him.

“Wait a second, don’t let that temper of yours run away with you. I’m enjoying myself, so if you’ll sit back down, I’ll start talking.”

Drew glared at her, but walked back to the couch. “So?”

Ishawna raised a finger. “I made an agreement with your Company not to tell you, you know.”

“Like you care about that.”

“It would be rude for me to disregard their request so quickly, but maybe if you entertain me a bit, I might forget my manners for a little bit.”

“I’m not patient enough to deal with this bullshit.” He made to leave but Ishawna spoke up.

“Stick around, and I’ll answer something else.”

Slowly, Drew settled onto the couch. “What?”

“Well, that’s up to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I will answer any question except the obvious. There’s got to be something you’re curious about that I can tell you, yes? How we got here, where I’m from, that sort of thing.”

A moment of silence passed while Drew tried to stare through her. “Okay. What are you afraid of?”

That creepy smile came back. “Still trying to kill me, are you?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” She leaned her human half onto a nearby chair. “But I think my answer may disappoint you.”

“What, you gonna say you’re not afraid of anything? Wouldn’t believe it. Even a monster like you has her fears.”

“No, no, it’s just that you won’t be able to use it to your advantage.”

“I’ll find a way.”

“I am afraid of becoming helpless.”

Drew leaned in, expecting more, but Ishawna gave him nothing. “That’s it?”

Her eyes narrowed. “‘That’s it?’ If you aren’t worried about yourself, then you haven’t given it enough thought.”

“No, I mean: it’s that boring? You lived out on your own for however long, hunted by wildlife and monsters and assassins, and you’re bored of something like helplessness? Who isn’t? I’m pretty sure if someone cut off my arms and legs I’d be in some shit myself.”

Her eyes fell and she shook her head. “Like I said, not enough thought. What if you could never kill your target? Never protect yourself and got raped by every monstergirl who felt like it? What if all you were good for was eating, sleeping, and breathing? It’s not the loss of limbs or physical prowess I fear, it’s the inability to defy my future. My fate.”

“If I became helpless, I wouldn’t be around much longer. And I don’t believe in fate.”

Ishawna frowned. “I was hoping with our similarities you might understand as well, but I can see that isn’t the case.”

“‘Similarities’? We are two completely different beasts. Just because I’m satisfying your perverted fantasies of ‘excitement’ doesn’t mean I’m anything like you.”

“You should learn to look beyond skin and fur. Surprising you haven’t learned that already, given you’re still alive.” She leaned toward Drew. “We are both searching for a way out. You’re still trapped where you are because of your unwillingness to act, me because of lack of direction.”

“Forgive me if it’s hard to sympathize with a thing like you.”

“I don’t want your sympathy. It’s worth as much as the corpses of the men before you. You might be a bit more interesting if you weren’t so blind to your own problems, though.”

“How about you worry about you and I worry about me? Or you could fuck off and die and make both our lives so much easier.”

“I hate easy,” she said with a grin.

“Yes, that’s extremely clear.”

“How did you end up with this job?” she asked.

Drew leaned back and crossed his arms. “Why should I tell you anything?”

“Because if your answer is interesting enough, my lips might loosen up.”

“Unlike you, I’m not interested in playing games. If you’re going to answer the question, answer it.”

“It’s up to you if you want to talk or not, but you came to me, not the other way around, and I can tell you for sure that what I know you’d want to know too.” She ran a claw through her messy hair. “Also, I’m not a liar. You are very amusing, but I’m not one to string people along. If I like your answer, then I’ll talk.”

“You realize a vow of honesty from someone you don’t trust is kind of pointless, right?”

“Yes, but the burden of trust is on you.” She yawned and stretched, resting her head on a nearby chair. “I’ll be having my fun one way or another, doesn’t matter what you do or do not learn, whether you die or live. So if you want that answer, you need to play,” she concluded with a mocking smile.

Drew gritted his teeth, staring hard at Ishawna. Her head would look so much nicer with a gaping hole in it. If only he had Liess’ Special with him.

“Fine. I’ll answer your stupid question. What did you want to know again?”

“How you came to work for Love Inc.”

So she already knew their name. Which meant getting his answer was all the more important. “They killed my mom and realized I could be useful. They offered a job and I figured I’d be dead or as good as such if I didn’t accept their offer, so I did. Simple as that.”

“Simple as that? They killed your mother. And what about your father?”

“Doesn’t matter. You asked how I got the job and I told you.”

She wagged a finger. “The whole question, dear Drew. Which includes the information about your mother.”

“Fuckin--” Drew shifted in his seat. “Fine. My mom was waging her own little war on them for killing my father. I don’t know how many of them she killed, probably dozens or something, and they fought back.”

“But you don’t seem to hold much grudge for losing your mother.”

“I liked my mom, I really did. Probably loved her at one point, too. What I would’ve really loved was if she didn’t go and get herself killed. If I’d had any relatives or friends who were still alive or I had some skill beyond killing monsters, I may have looked a little harder for an alternative. But in that situation, I couldn’t see one. Can you fuck off with the questions now and answer mine?”

“How did your father die?” When Drew opened his mouth to protest, Ishawna raised a hand to silence him. “Last question, I promise. You’ll understand why in a moment.”

“He fought against monsters as a Paladin. You know who they are, right?”

“Of course. Humans who trained specifically to fight monsters. They still have a hand in human politics, if I remember correctly.”

“A weakening one. He died when I was young. I don’t know how he died, specifically, but it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Ishawna was positively ecstatic, her grin reaching across her face and her eyes alight with glee. Drew shrunk back into the couch.

“Oh, but it does matter, Drew. You wanted me to answer your question? Well, as much as it might disappoint your Company, I think I’ll do just that. You see, the fact they wanted to keep from you, the reason you’re about to be the center of something very amusing,” She crept closer to Drew, a hint of her breath hitting his face, “Is that your father is alive.

“And he knows something very, very interesting.”

**Side Chapter: Liess Scene**

“You are staring.”

Drew blinked and refocused his eyes on Liess’ face. “Huh?”

“Staring.” Liess chugged the glass of water she’d poured and slammed it down with the delicacy and precision only she could.

“Yeah, your attire caught me off guard. You never dress like that.”

“Ah, yes. Zee dress.” She stepped out from behind the counter, revealing the length of her body. Pouring over her shoulders was a deep blue dress, v-cut lower than anything Drew had ever seen on her, and opening at her thighs to emphasize the smooth, pale wight skin on her legs and exaggerate their length.

It did a pretty good job of it.

Long silken gloves the color of her dress clung to her arms, covering all the way up past her elbow. From the way her fingers twitched and kept tapping her sides, they weren’t comfortable. 

“Zees sing is so clingy. Mine chest cannot breathe and zee only vreedom of moofment is in mine legs, vhere I am just as likely to trip on zees annoyink flaps.” She tossed the front of her dress up and scoffed.

Drew caught the the shortest glimpse of her inner thighs. Just like Liess to treat her own sexuality with such casual brazenness like it was some bother she hadn’t asked for. He laid down on the couch then pulled out his phone and immersed himself in it as best he could to keep from staring again. “Your chest can’t breathe? It sure looks open to me.”

“Yes, bekause zees schupid sing is made for someone vith no chest!” She squeezed her tits together. “Zey are beink pusht too hard togezzer and it is hardly comfortable.”

She’d completely tossed the filter on her german accent, too. Something told him it wasn’t just the dress that was bugging her.

“Something big happening tomorrow?”

“Yes. A meetink. Last sekunt meetink.”

“And you’re going all out for it.” Drew gestured to the gloves. That was something he’d never seen on her.

She raised her right arm, opening and closing her hand, and glowered at the glove. “Last time I vore zees vas vhen I vas assignt to you.”

“Well, it looks good, if you were wondering.”

“Hmph. I know it looks goot. I simply needed to see if it shtill fit.”

“If your idea of fitting is for your tits to be about to tumble out, then yes, it fits.”

Her arm dropped to her side and her gaze bore down on Drew. “You are enjoyink zees.”

“I’m making an observation, that’s all.”

She planted her hands on her hips and scrunched up her lips in thought. A high heel began tapping on the wood floor just loud enough for Drew to hear. Was she thinking about wearing something different? Had his comment actually gotten to her?

“Come vith me.” Those heels clattered down toward her room.

Drew was struck dumb on the couch for several moments. Follow her to her room? That was the one place she’d made very clear was off-limits. The only thing Liess considered sacred next to her guns.

And she’d invited him in.

His discipline kicked in and he hurried to his feet, catching a glimpse of her disappearing into her room down the hall. A nagging voice murmured in the back of his head, but Liess hadn’t a hint of hesitation in that order, so he kept that doubt in his head alone. He rushed to her room.

Drew knew Liess’ house wasn’t exactly modest, but at the same time, he’d never seen anything out of the ordinary either. Somehow he expected her room to be the exception, yet… there it was. Functional, but personal. There was no smudged-up mirror with a million open makeup bottles, no hair clips lying all over the furniture, no rogue tissues or strands of hair. Liess had made the most of her space, giving the room an open feeling, but not so much you might get dizzy. The bed stood out as the most impressive piece of the room as Drew would expect, but it had no more than two pillows and the sheets, while inviting and patterned, didn’t look too difficult to take on and off.

The room was, in a word, Liess. And Drew couldn’t figure out why he was surprised.

“Do not shandt zere as if you haf run into a vall, Drew. In!”

He took a few steps in, put his hands in his pockets, and directed his attention to Liess. Away from the room.

Liess closed the door, then stood in front of Drew, arms crossed under those painfully abundant breasts. With their height mismatch, Drew only needed to give the tiniest glance lower to catch a look.

“I haf hat a long day, von zhat has kome after a shtrink of disappointments, annoyances, and frustrations reachink back veeks.” She glimpsed down at her dress. “Zees dress vas just anozer sing zat I hat to tolerate, until I decidet I hat enough. I vould very musch like to destroy zees sing, but my shtation requires it intact.” Her eyes focused, glimmering with something Drew had not seen in them before. “Monsters and humans haf anozer vay to deal vith stress, von I haf not engaged in vor long enough. Von that requires a partner.”

To end her statement, she released a breath profuse with her scent, a sweet flower that invaded the senses and held them prisoner to behold, rich with Liess’ strength and authority.

From the mire of words drowning in Liess’ accent, Drew made out the one obvious message.

“You want to have sex.”

“Fuck, Drew. I do not ‘haf sex’ or ‘make love’ as ozer such nauseatink vights do. Ve vould fuck as human und monster for the reason zat I am stressed und sex veels goot.” She paused and raised a finger. “Realize, ve vould not be doink zees as equals. I am your superior, both in shtation and ability. I also, however, fint you capable and interestink enough to sink you vould lif up to zee expectation of zee act.”

Drew cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. “So you think I’m good enough for a quick fuck.”

“Zis may not be ‘quick’. Und I am not patronizink you. Zees is an offer not so simply given.”

His legs started to twitch and his feet itched to tap. He swallowed the thunderstorm of blunt emotion ignited by Liess’ offer, only to have it fester and explode within his body. When he first started working with her, Liess had quickly stomped out and spark of hope of such a thing happening. The thought of fucking her had so long been an alien concept that he had no defenses when the reality of it struck. And not only that, this was the first time in Drew’s life his consent actually mattered when sex was involved.

Would he? Oh, hell yes, with the force of Thor’s goddamn hammer he would. Liess made a greasy sweatshirt and a simple ponytail look good, so the dress? She fucking murdered it.

“I’m interested,” he said.

“Goot. Before vee go any furzer, however, I muscht explain that I am doink zees for my own sake, and vee vill fuck how I vish. Your vetisches, endurance, preferences, und limits conzern me vittle. I vill go until I am satisfied, und I vill shtop ven I vish it. I vill use vichever of mine mesods I feel vike usink.”

Drew ran his teeth across his lower lip. “So this is what you mean when you said you were still the superior.”

She nodded. “But you schould not vorry, I vill make sure you vill not soon forget zees.”

“Uh huh. Just so you know, I’m not really worried about forgetting this,” he said with a smirk.

Once again, her intoxicating breath washed over his face, but harder, in a pant. “Drew, vee are alone, in mine room, I haf said my piece and you haf consented, and my vrustration grows by zee secund. I am hopink you undershtand ow difficult it eez for me to restrain mineself.”

Drew swallowed. “Then don’t.”

He’d hardly finished the sentence when he was yanked off his feet and thrown across the room, landing right in the middle of Liess’ bed. Liess strode toward him, one arm raised and a large spectral claw extending from it. His skin tingled where it had seized him.

He’d almost forgotten about those.

The silk of Liess’ dress and the pristine skin of her legs slid across her smooth bedsheets with a soft, liquid sound that snuck in Drew’s ears past the pounding of his heart and his rasping breath. The spectral claw vanished and one of Liess’ hands snaked under Drew’s shirt, slipping across his chest, while the other removed his shoes. Drew raised his arms to let Liess remove his shirt. His eyes locked onto hers, lost in the deep violet concentration of her focused gaze. She moved with a poised and precise haste only she could pull off. In mere seconds, her practiced hands had disrobed him.

When she laid a hand on his vigorous erection, she gave her first smile.

“I avait the moment you fully realize vhat you haf agreed to.”

“I feel like I have a good idea,” Drew said, his voice cracking.

“Hoh hoh, no, little Drew, you cannot even fazom.”

She hooked a leg around one of his, intertwining her silky bare thigh with his hairy leg. Her foot, covered in her thick leggings, grabbed at and played with his toes. His leg went stiff with the contrast of her smooth thighs against the textured fabric of her leggings. One of her hands explored his chest and ventured up toward his shoulders while the other lightly traced the outline of his member. Her barely-open mouth floated her breath to his face, where it splashed against him like water on the shore.

“You’re going kinda slow for someone who just said they were having a hard time restraining themselves.”

“Zee buildup can be zo musch fun if you gif it proper care.” Her smile widened. “And seeink you restless makes it zhat musch better.”

He tried to shoot a smile back at her, but the corner of his mouth kept twitching beyond his control.

She traced her fingers over the cusp of his shoulder, driving the touch of her silk gloves into his brain. From that arm her spectral claw returned, reaching down his arm and holding his hand in its large grip. A foreign cold seeped into Drew’s skin where it met the claw, a cold that did not chill, but burned with anticipation, the sort of cold that struck only before an unbearable heat.

Drew couldn’t take his eyes off of it.

“You haf never felt its touch, haf you?” Liess’ teasing voice tickled his ears. She pressed her body further into his and those tantalizing lips hovered outside his ear. “Does it vorry you?”

“The only thing worrying me is how gentle you’re being.”

“Gentle?” That luxurious laugh rattled out. “I am toying vith mine prey, veaving him a trap zat vill hold him nicely so zat vhen I am not beink so ‘gentle’, he vill not escape.” A spectral claw ran from his wrist to his shoulder, pressing hard enough to break skin, but left no mark. Drew’s erection throbbed, hungry for more attention than the tormenting touch of her lazy finger. “Tell me I am beink gentle zen.”

Gloved fingers shifted to his left arm, the one crushed between their bodies and placed square between her breasts. She played with his fingers as if to clasp their hands together, only to move down the inside of his arm to where her breasts lay. Smiling at him, she pressed them together until he felt pins and needles down to his hand.

“Vould you like to put your cock in zere? Smozer it in zee velcoming flesh of mine breasts? Of course you vould. But you vill haf to tolerate mine hand for now.”

Silk fingers slipped around his shaft and began to pump with the smallest effort. It could hardly be called a grip, just a placement of her fingers that happened to put his member between them, and she moved with such sloth she might never bring him relief. Yet her hand still send shivers through his body.

She hummed with contentment. Watching his face, she brought her leg up higher. She smothered his legs in the grip of her thighs while her knee massaged his balls. Her grin grew at the sight of his shock.

“It’s… disturbing h-how clinical you’re being,” said Drew. “It’s not like y-you.”

“Not like me?” She laid her head on his chest, treating Drew to a faceful of scented hair. “Mmm, but I belief zees eez exactly like me. You are mine projekt, und I am merely takink you apart piece by piece, cleanink each soroughly, zen bringink it all back togezzer in an immensely satisfyink conclusion.” The glove tightened its grip. “Do you not agree?”

“I s-suppose when you put it that way…”

Her gloved hand began to play with him, twisting until its grip was upside-down with her thumb rubbing the top of his shaft and her fingers teasing the bottom. Her palm slipped back and forth over his head, cupping his most sensitive spot for a moment before moving on. His oozing pre smeared and soaked into the fabric, but her hand never slowed. Liess idly licked his chest, staring at her work and chuckling when his hips began to thrust.

“You are in such a hurry, little Drew. Try to enjoy yourzelf.”

“I would say I’m doing a good job of that already.”

“Is zat so? Perhaps you vill enjoy zees, too.”

The spectral claw on her hand appeared and swallowed his member in its grip. Drew’s body spasmed at the sudden overwhelming sensation, but Liess’ other claw pushed his upper body back down and held it there with lackadaisical strength. Gloved hand and claw both pumped independently, one building heat with the friction of its slowly-increasing speed while the other electrified Drew’s member with a pretense of cold.

“H-how—”

Liess silenced him by putting her hand over his mouth, drenching him in the scent of her gloves. “You said you vere enjoyink yourzelf, yes? Zen simply enjoy zees.”

Her knee pressed harder upward and her hand gripped tighter, driving the smooth touch of her silk glove further into his mind and body. Each pump of her practiced hand pushed Drew closer and closer to the edge and the eerie cold left in the wake of her claw made his muscles jerk uncontrollably. Liess held his fits with ease. He left his composure behind and began thrusting into her eager hand.

Liess moved the hand on his mouth away, up to his hair where she grabbed hard. She turned to look into his struggling face, watching with a mix of curiosity and amusement.

“Cum.”

Drew squinted at her, then looked down. “It’s going to get all over your dress, you kn—”

Her hand pumped harder, punctuating her demand. “Zat is zee fucking point! Now cum!”

Drew snapped his mouth shut and obeyed. Pleasure exploded from the base of his cock and shot through his cock like lightning. Pushing as far into her glove as possible, he spewed his surrender. Arcs of cum landed on his chest but many more covered her exquisite hand as it worked. Liess’ grin darkened, almost evil, at the sight of his exertion. No amount of squirming or thrusting could remove that gloved hand from its work, even after Drew was spent.

Her spectral claw lifted from his member and passed through the splotches of cum that missed her hand. As it touched them, they evaporated into it and Liess took a long, deep breath of satisfaction.

But she didn’t stop.

“Hey, I’m still pretty sensitive down there,” said Drew.

“Yes, zat is how zee body vorks, is it not?”

“Ease up a bit, then?”

She gripped his hair harder and picked his head up, then moved her mouth to his ear. “Remember? I said your endurance und your limits are not my concern. Mine hand is not tired, and I very musch liked the exprezzion it put on your face. So I will keep goink.” Drew shivered as she ran a row of teeth against his ear. “Am I beink gentle now?”

Drew scowled, but didn’t answer. He gritted his teeth trying to withstand the pumping hand on his member. If she had added that claw back to it, he probably would’ve gone insane.

A curious tongue traced his ear, followed by a bite just hard enough to hurt. Liess’ relentless hand formed a tighter seal between its thumb and pointer, forcing Drew’s sore head through a tighter hold with each pump. His breaths came out angry as he tried to cope with the brutal stimulation. He attempted to squirm his waist away from her hand, but the thighs that had earlier drove him mad now held him prisoner.

“Y-you try to act like you’re not a monster at all, but you d-damn sure enjoy dominating like one.”

Liess yanked his head by his hair and forced him to stare at the ceiling. “I never said I vas not a monster, but simply not vhat vone vould expect from a vight.” She bit down on his ear harder. “And zere is real pleasure in vatchink a defiant underling squirm.”

Her glove covered his head in a cocoon of silk and twisted, ignoring his shaft. “Is zees vhat you expected when you agreed? Vere you lookink at mine breasts, mine lips? All zoze vonderful fantasties, and all you get is mine hand.”

Drew shouted and moaned at the rabid stimulation of her glove. It squelched with the dampness of his semen.

“Cum again, mine toy,” she whispered into his ear. “Soil mine glove vonce more.”

Her thighs loosened and Drew threw his hips up as high as he could, moaning with no restraint. Once more her exploded into her hand. The silk turned a darker shade of blue as it soaked up his release, never stopping, hungry for every last drop. With one last squeeze, her hand let go and left his raw cock to throb in the void of sensation and the chill of the room.

Liess rolled over top of Drew, smirking at his exhaustion. She stopped pulling at his hair and instead began stroking it. She sat up and straddled him, then raised the glove that had brought him that wonderful torture. She sighed.

“It felt so very goot to see it dirtied so, but it vould not do to continue like zees.” She summoned her claw and all the cum that had soaked in immediately evaporated and the glove returned to its normal shade of blue. “Now zat zat problem is taken care of, I muscht see to zee ozzer.” Her ass gyrated over Drew’s cock. It didn’t respond.

“Wights got something for that, too?” Drew said.

“Of course.” Her right claw reappeared and Liess gazed at it, flexing its fingers. “You see, zees are an extension of mine spiritual energy. As an undead, zey are usually used to absorb power from anozzer, but, vith practice, zey can also give. And vhile such an action can be as simple as a touch,” she said, lowering the claw to Drew’s chest, “zere is a musch more exciting way.”

Drew didn’t have time to wonder what that way was. Liess’ grin turned evil again, and she drove her claw under Drew’s skin. The alien cold that her claws shared now struck him from the inside, under his skin instead of on it. He writhed underneath her and glared at that cruel grin.

She raised her hand, showing an open palm, then closed it. And the claw closed over his heart.

Drew screamed. His vision exploded into white and everything winked out of existence. He no longer felt his arms, his legs, or Liess’ weight on his stomach. All of his being was a pulse at his core, stretching to the furthest of his extremities and reverberating in a sweet chord of absolute pleasure.

Drew breathed in.

Then returned to the world. His breath came out violently. When he brought his hand to cover his coughing, he found it sore, as if he’d been gripping something too hard for too long. He had to blink several times before the colors of the room corrected themselves and he could see more than a foot in front of him. When his ears came back, they caught a rapturous laughter.

Liess had thrown her head back and was cackling at the air, a hand in her hair as if to keep her head from going back any further. Drew was panting too hard to say anything, and even if he could, he wasn’t sure he’d want to. As annoying as her laughter was, what she did was… just…

“Haf you returned?” Her liquid voice grounded Drew. “Zat is a technique I try not to use on humans, as zee veaker vones tend to be unable to recover from it. And even if zey do, zey might become addictet. I know you are better zhan zat, zough.”

“What… what was that?”

“Inshtead of leakink energy into your body through simple touch, I sent a surge of it directly into your heart und squeezed it, vich, vhile raising your blood pressure dangerously high for a moment, also delivert high potency spirit energy to every korner of your body near instantaneously.” She planted her arms on the bed near the sides of his head and leaned in close. “For humans, susch a sing vould be fery, fery pleasurable.” Her hips began to rock and this time when her ass smothered his member, it responded. “It also happens to revitalize zem.”

“Shrewd. Just like you.” Drew tested his arms and legs. Liess was right: he felt like a million bucks. The soreness had dissipated and been replaced with incredible energy. He could run a marathon or two like this.

Liess lowered her head and let her hair spill out over his chest. Her rear went into the air and she slowly backed up, drilling through Drew with that ill-intentioned leer of hers.

He swallowed hard.

The silky splash of her hair tickled him all the way down to his waist until she raised her head. She brushed her dress off her shoulders with two deliberate movements, freeing her bountiful breasts at last. Her smile widened.

Gloved hands ran slowly up Drew’s legs, reminding him of that silky touch, before coming to rest on the sides of her breasts. Her boobs were large enough to swallow her hands whole when she applied enough pressure. His cock twitched at the sight.

Liess surged forward and Drew gasped as the pillowy flesh devoured his member. He moaned and rocked his head back, prompting Liess to chuckle, a chuckle that resounded through her chest and Drew’s cock.

Using both the movement of her hands and her upper body, she slid her tits up and down his member, hiding it entirely from his view except when she had fully receded. She pushed hard from the sides to give his cock a suffocating prison, but her skin was so soft and smooth she could move without a hint of resistance.

“It is musch better zan puttink your arm in zere, isn’t it?”

“Fuck yes.”

Drew’s legs extended and bent again, unable to just lie there under the blissful assault of Liess’ chest. Drew kept trying to calm them, but lost focus every time. Two massive, cold grips seized his legs at the shin and held them still. When he looked down at Liess, she stared back with smug contentment and moved faster.

Drew bit his lips and looked back at the ceiling. Another second witnessing that smile and those tits would ruin him.

Creamy mounds slid up and down his member with fervor, crushing him in pleasure. Unlike her hand that focused on a certain area, her breasts massaged everywhere all at once, only leaving his cockhead a second to gasp for air before dragging it back under. He bit down harder and harder, but her skill was eroding his defense. It was only a matter of seconds until she won.

But she stopped.

After a paused, Drew looked down and saw Liess holding his erection captive between her tits, but unmoving.

“I haf decided I am tired of doink all zee work. If you vant to get off, you vill haf to fuck my chest.”

“What?”

“Fuck mine chest, boy. Zrust your hips.”

“So after all that, you’re just going to stop.”

“Shtop? I’m shtill holdink mine breasts here, zough I can take them away, too.”

Drew snarled at that stupid smile of hers. She was acting like she was doing him some sort of favor, like she was so gracious pushing her tits together for him. Damn that attitude of hers! If she was going to give him tits, then he’d fuck them better than anyone else in the whole goddamn world.

“Fine.”

And he thrusted. The first one took him by surprise, surprise that fucking her chest felt different than having her chest fuck him, but after that he was on a mission. Liess’ smile disappeared for the first time since they started. Now she was watching him with curiosity, probably appraising him or something. Drew just glowered and fucked harder.

His hips began to ache, but the closer he got, the less he felt it. All that mattered was that supple slit of softness. He closed his eyes and focused on the feeling, the pressure, the tightness, how his cock slipped in and out so smoothly. His moans turned into grunts and his thrusts accelerated, reaching for the release that seemed so close yet so far.

Then Liess started moving again.

Drew yelped as climax rushed upon him. Liquid fire shot down his length and every muscle in his body went stiff. It was all he could do to keep his balance as Liess took command back, pumping her breasts up and down, draining him for all he was worth. Cum spewed out every side of her tittyfuckhole, smearing up to her neck and down to her dress.

Drew half-expected her to try and get another orgasm out of him with her tits, but once she was sure he was empty, she withdrew, drawing a finger down her soiled chest and licking it clean before cleaning up the rest with a spectral claw.

“You’re pretty good with those tits.”

“Of course I am.”

She reached behind her head and removed the small band that held her hair in its trademark ponytail. She fanned out her hair and let it fall on her front. It didn’t tumble from her fingers like water or drape gracefully down her body, though. It half-floated, clumped together in chunks, and drifted wherever it felt. In short, it was a mess.

Liess shook her hair out and sighed. “It feels goot to let it out.” She looked down at Drew. “Now, I think I haf playet arount long enough.”

Her hands crept up Drew’s chest, running smooth along his skin, taking an occasional squeeze, almost as if she was using his body to climb upward. When her face was directly over his, her abundant hair covered his head like a curtain. Through the licks of light that got through, he could see that intentioned smile return.

He gasped as a spectral claw gripped his member and pointed it straight up. Another pushed Liess’ dress aside and exposed a dripping, hungry sex.

“Zee buildup has been so very fun. Do not disappoint me now. Try to last more zhan a few sekunds.”

“C’mon, you really think—”

She swallowed him.

Drew choked on his words. With her claw still holding him as she phased through it, there were so many sensations attacking him it was all he could do to keep breathing.

“I do sink. I know how potent I am, it does not matter how shtrong you sink you may be. I vill alvays vin.”

Liess fucked him with a viciously patient pacing. She lowered herself just gradually enough to be called slow, and when she withdrew, left his slick cock bare to the cold of her claw just long enough for it to bite. Her lower lips sealed over his member with a tight kiss and her walls twitched and surged to pull him in then embraced him tight.

Using every last ounce of willpower, Drew shook himself out of his stupor. He raised a hand and planted it on her hips. His fingers dug into her soft skin in an involuntary surge of strength caused by Liess’ thrusts.

She grinned at his effort. One of her hands drifted back, gently taking his by the wrist and bringing it up to her breast.

“Are you sure zees isn’t vere you vant to be grabbink?” she said before slamming down on him again.

“Fuck!” His hand dove into her supple bosom, earning him a most satisfied look from Liess.

Still gripping his wrist, she pushed his hand harder into her, then let her fingers tumble down his arm then back up it with teasing touches.

Her rhythm never broke. Drew moaned, trying to focus on her breasts, but her hips demanded his attention much stronger. Those heavenly pussylips sucked him in again and again, eroding his control at a dizzying pace.

And then everything spun. Drew cried out as Liess’ thighs gripped him hard and flipped him up atop her. She reached for his neck with her free hand and gave the side of it a light pinch before massaging it with care.

“Is it so odd to be on top? Or do you simply not know how it goes? Let me help.”

Her legs locked together, squeezed, and forced him deep inside. Liess chuckled as her thighs and legs manhandled him in and out of her. Only when he caught up to the present and began thrusting himself did she allow him an inch of control.

When Drew scowled down at her, he noticed her cheeks had begun to redden, and sweat was dripping down her face. Even with all her crazy composure and control, she couldn’t deny the power of pleasure. He hunkered down and thrusted, watched her and adjusted his angle until her eyes flickered with just the right expression, then, for the first time, launched his own attack.

He knew he’d hit the right angle when Liess’ legs tightened further. Much more and she could start breaking bones.

“I knew you vould catch on. But vill you last long enough?”

The hand on his neck slipped behind him and jerked his head downward, right into her breasts, and held it there. At the same time, her thighs shifted lower on him and urged him to thrust faster. Through her heavy breathing and light moans, Drew could make out Liess’ callous chuckling.

Drew hammered her. Suffocating in her tits and the grasp of her dexterous pussy, Drew hunkered down and worked. Any ache or pain disappeared amongst the storm of pleasure. No defense could hold him forever, though, and her tightness and skill were demanding one thing with a deafening voice:

Cum.

Drew moaned into her bosom. His orgasm hit him like a truck, throwing his eyes open, firing every muscle in his body at once, and igniting a wildfire bliss in his cock that roared through his body. Liess’s legs locked tight and shoved him as deep as possible where he released with all he had. It felt like more than possible, like he was emptying liters into her, but her skilled and focused body would accept no less. Only when he was completely limp and haggard did her legs loosen up and allow him to flop over onto the bed.

Liess laid a gloved hand on his chest ever so lightly and grazed up and down it with faint touches.

“You seem tiret.”

Drew shot out a laugh. “Holy shit, Liess, I’ve never felt like that before. Damn.”

“Of course you haf not. Even ozzer vights could not hope to match me.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that was nothing to you, but you don’t need to be bragging about how you made me look like a little bitch while still being on bottom.” He rubbed his hips. “I might even be sore from that.”

“I do not need to do somesink so petty as braggink.” The claw on her hand reappeared and its digits dig lightly into Drew’s skin. “But I sink you are makink some ozzer erroneous assumptions zere.”

Drew looked down at the claw, then to Liess. “Like what?”

“I am sinkink you believe vee are done. I haf yet to cum, Drew, and zee reason vee are doink zees is mine satisfaction. I vill admit I vas a quite a bit closer zere zhan I expected from you, but it sctill vasn’t enough.”

“I can tell you right now, my body won’t be able to give you shit like this. And you better not be planning on doing that heart-squeeze thing again.”

She grinned. “No, no zat is too dangerous and vasn’t really necessary in zee first place. It vas just for fun.” Her spectral claw dug in deeper. “Zere are ozzer vays of keepink you up.”

“Don’t worry about me keeping up, then,” said Drew with a smirk. “Worry about yourself.”

She draped her leg across his and hugged him close. “Oh, zees is goink to be so musch fun vith zat attitude of yours. So musch fun vatching it disappear as zee hours go by and your mind begins to numb. Vhat vee haf already done is probably all you vill remember, but I can assure you, zees night shtill haz musch left in it.”

With that, a spectral claw sunk into his head and began to tickle at Drew’s brain with an eerie cold and channel something into his body, something that brought his member back to full length in an instant. Liess wasted no time hooking her leg around it and catching it behind her knee.

“Don’t vorry, you’ll be fine come mornink, but until zen? Let me show you mine definition of ‘fun’.”

It was then Drew thought it might be okay to worry.


End file.
